Sam from ‘Sam CarLegion’ is not new to getting different cars together for a series of drag races and roll races. Remember the time when he got a Fusion Sport that humiliated a Ford Mustang? Building on the “not-the-race-we-wanted-but-the race-we-needed” series, Sam got a Lexus RC F to take on the popular car, the BMW M4. One’s got a V-8, the other a six-pot mill; one’s naturally aspirated and the other comes with a turbocharger. But, the difference that could be a deciding factor is the gearbox. It’s a manual gearbox vs automatic transmission. You’ve got the Kidney grille or the spindle?

Similar Power Outputs, But Different Traits and Characteristics

An eight-speed automatic gearbox powers the rear wheels. Although the engine is stock, the owner has made mods to the exterior and interior. The spoiler has been raised by about 100 mm, even front and side aeros are custom-made, and the interior is fully carbon.

All the oomph is routed to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox.

The RC F weighs 3,958 pounds, making it 128 pounds heavier than the 3,830-pound BMW M4. The power-to-weight ratio is .118 horsepower/pound for the RC F and .123 horsepower/pound for the M4.

The Races Could’ve Been A Lot Closer

Coming to the races, the first one was from a dig with the cars in their sportiest settings and the Lexus in automatic mode for the gearbox. The Traction Control was kept on here. The shifting felt a little off throughout the race. The M4 managed to get a lead off the line, but the RC F was quick to catch up. However, that didn’t last for long as the M4 managed to fly past it before the finish line to take the first win.

For the second run, the RC F was shifting the gears manually. This time, they started neck-and-neck, but the Lexus sprinted ahead when the BMW’s driver was shifting to second. However, the RC F, for some reason, seemed to have hit a brick wall. Either the transmission acted out or the driver misjudged the finish line and slowed down much earlier. Either way, it looked very bad in the video. The M4 pocketed another win here.

They moved on to the roll races, with the first one from 50 kph with the cars in second gear. The Lexus was also shifting gears manually in this round. At kickdown, they weren’t next to each other and seemed to have reacted differently, too. The BMW M4 won this race as well, but not by a very large margin. I’m not criticizing the driver here, but something seemed off, and given how close they ended, the results could have been different perhaps.

For the second roll race, the Lexus’ gearbox was in automatic mode. This time, the race was much better and a lot closer than the first. The M4 managed to edge it and score a clean sweep over its Japanese rival. Honestly, I’d like to see two cars race again because it can make for one heck of a race, and who knows, maybe the RC F will get its revenge.

Watch the video below and let us know your thoughts about the race in the comments section.