Half the Cylinders, Twice the Fun: Tuned BMW M3 Touring Schools Lambo Revuelto

There's no escaping it: the hybridized mid-mounted V12 engine put in the Lamborghini Revuelto is a symphony dedicated to keeping alive what others would like to see destroyed and buried. It's a celebration of mechanical perfection and a testament to what engineers can accomplish when they combine technologies to create an amazing powertrain.

Wearing the raging bull badge is a thing of honor in the automotive world and a confirmation that what you're about to see and hear is one of Italy's (and, well, Germany's) most impressive machines on staggered wheels. The Revuelto is Ferrari SF90's nightmare because it has a somewhat similar powertrain: the 6.5-liter mechanical beating heart develops 814 hp, and three electric motors serve as auxiliaries, bringing the total power output to 1,001 hp.

In this day and age, where we have EVs that cost five or six times less but can assemble a herd of well over 1,000 horses, Revuelto's power output may not be all that impressive. However, the progress is noteworthy. When the hypercar's predecessor, the Aventador, was introduced in 2011, it had only 690 hp to play around with.

But no matter how cool a Revuelto is, some skilled tuners can turn a high-performance family car like the BMW M3 Touring into a direct rival for the Italian symbol of automotive excellence. Keep in mind that we're talking about a car with six less cylinders!

The British blokes at Carwow put the two vehicles to the test and threw in a tuned twin-turbo Audi R8 just for the fun of it.

So, at the start line, we find:

• a stock Lamborghini Revuelto with 1,001 hp and 783 lb-ft (1,062 Nm) of torque that weighs 4,145 lb;
• a tuned BMW M3 Touring with 1,000 hp and 811 lb-ft (1,100 Nm) of torque that weighs 4,111 lb;
• a tuned Audi R8 V10 with 1,000 hp and 590 lb-ft (800 Nm) of torque that weighs 3,483 lb.

All three are all-wheel-drive vehicles and share a tax-inclusive price that starts at six figures. The Audi is the cheapest—$125,240. It is followed by the BMW, which costs $169,074 with the tune factored in. The most expensive ride is the Lambo, which set the owner back $559,500.

The first drag race put the BMW in the winner's seat, while the Audi came second. Interestingly enough, the Revuelto crossed the finish line last. However, the owner admitted Launch Control didn't work.

The second run put the Revuelto in the spotlight. The Lambo simply sprinted away, making it seem like it had a massive coil spring at its back that decompressed once the driver released the brake pedal. That's the beauty of hybrid power. The instant torque provided by electric motors can make it feel like you're going to take off into the stratosphere in the first few seconds after the launch.

The BMW didn't hook up properly and even showed a bit of tailspin, but it still got incredibly close to the Lambo. The Audi came last.

The third and final race showed that the straight-six S58 engine could make the wagon feel like a hypercar. The BMW M3 Touring driver might have lost the launch, but it caught up to the Lambo with twice the cylinders and defeated it.

It won by a hair, but it proved that the Bavarians created a monster of an engine. Tuning the six-cylinder right can turn the car it's put in into a terrifying track weapon.

There you have it: a tuned BMW M family wagon that's over three times cheaper than the Lamborghini Revuelto can comfortably fight and even win against an all-out electrified hypercar. Ah-mazing!