There is something about the Dodge Challenger Hellcat and tuned BMWs. Despite boasting a lot more power than its German rival even in its tuned form, the Challenger just couldn’t beat a tuned BMW in the past. I’m talking about the time when it got spanked hard by a tuned M4. This time, it faced a tuned F80 BMW M3 and seemed to be having a déjà vu, but somehow managed to get redemption.
What Are We Dealing With Here?
The tuned BMW M3 F80 is powered by a 3.0-liter, twin-turbo six-cylinder engine and features a GTS tune.
A Few Losses Before The Big Win
The first round was a standing drag race with the cars in sport mode and automatic mode for the gearbox. The tuned M3 got off the line and made the Challenger look like it was standing still. The latter started to close in, but was far from enough to beat the tuned Bimmer. They raced again, but the result was exactly the same.
With a clean sweep in the drag races for the BMW, they decided to move on to roll races. The first one was from 31 mph (50 kph). Although the rules for this weren’t announced, it looked like it was the manual mode for the gearbox (or at least that’s what the Dodge driver thought). The M3 had a better kickdown, but the Challenger started reeling in soon. Unfortunately, the muscle car lost by a pretty small margin.
The Redemption!
The last round was also a roll race from 31 mph, but this time with the gearbox in automatic mode. The Dodge had a fantastic kickdown and it got the lead right away. Its rival couldn’t get anywhere close to it, thus ending the day with a thumping victory. If you take into account the four races from January where the Challenger lost miserably, this seems like a proper redemption with the curse broken after seven straight losses. Too dramatic, eh? Well, not for the Challenger, I’m sure!
Watch the video below and share your thoughts with us in the comments section.
