2025 BMW M2 vs Audi RS 3 Comparison Test Different Sausages Similar Results

Miguel, what would you say it is we're doing here? That's a coupe. That's a sedan. That's an automatic. This is a manual. This is rear-wheel drive. And that's all-wheel drive. Make it make sense. You know, I'll tell you where they have a lot of commonalities. Number one, they are German. Number two, they are entry-level sports cars. And they both speak the same language. This may not be the apples-to-apples comparison for But when you look at people shopping for cars like this, absolutely, they're going to compare each two. As an enthusiast, you want to drive both of these and see which one gives you more fun behind the wheel. I want to really look at this one, mostly because you can't miss it. I mean, this is bright. Whoever picks this color wants to be seen everywhere. But look at how beautiful it is. I mean, it is a sports car right away. Those lines are strong, are sporty, right? They represent something. I mean, look at the grille. It's massive. It's black, right? You have these swoopy headlights, carbon fiber elements all around the car. There are some details there that tell you this is more than an A3. This is an RS3, and those two letters at the front matter a lot. Yeah, there's two details I really love. First of all, these wheels. These snowflakes are great. I also love what they did with the headlights here, with these daytime running lights. When they light up, they make a checkered flag. It's very unique, and it's something that the M2 doesn't do. First of all, this purple is delightful. Yeah. Man, this car just says sports car, right? You've got the classic long dash to axle ratio that says rear drive. The one part of this car that I'm not sold on still is right here. The squares on the corners here, and in the back too. It's like they did squares on the bottom, curves on the top, and the juxtaposition of them just doesn't work for me. I know it's hard to do, but ignore that part, and the rest of the car is beautiful. Yeah, you've got these coke bottle fenders, and this bulge in the hood that says inline six. Very, very cool to look at. Yeah, and you know, I think you have a point that these cars are sort of speaking the same language deep down, but to understand that language, I think we have to drive them. This is a 2025 M2, 473 horsepower, 406 pound-feet of torque, inline six, six-speed manual. Yes. How does it feel? It feels kind of rowdy. I love this car. I mean, how many rear drive manual transmission cars can you get anymore? Manual transmissions are going away, and the fact that you can get one still today in this M2, it's a miracle. Honestly, I think this is the best manual transmission BMW has done in a long time, frankly. The clutch pedal is really easy, really soft. The shifter is super precise going into the speeds, and you know, you can get it with an automatic too if you want to be faster in a straight line, and maybe even do a faster lap time, but if you want to keep it old school, I love that you still have that choice. So you've got a manual transmission and rear-wheel drive, which means you have to get the launch perfect. With the automatic, like you've got launch control, you're going to get a much sharper launch too. So from purely a specs standpoint, this one's at a little bit of a disadvantage. I don't consider it a disadvantage, I don't know about you. No, no, no, listen to this. It revs to 7,500 RPM, which isn't the highest in the world, but like, I still catch myself short-shifting a little bit because I'm going by ear, and I'm thinking, oh, I've got to be getting close to the red line, but the lights aren't flashing yet to, like, remind me. I'm like, oh, I can keep going, like, I can push it even farther. I just assumed, like, I've got to be running out of gear, and it's still got more. No, it has a lot of power. It feels like it never ends. But it's not just about the transmission in this car, right? I mean, god, what an engine. It's a three-liter inline-six. You hear the sound, you feel the power. Everything feels so engaging in this car. The moment you step in, you buckle up, and you turn that engine on. It really draws you in, right? It wants to make you keep driving it, and as soon as you hit the first corner, you want to go for the next one, and then the next one. The body roll is just almost non-existent here. It has so much grip from the tires. The thing I love about this car is that when you really want to push it, it makes you work, and that's fun. It does have turbo lag, so you got to be right with the gears. The throttle, you can really control it precisely. Same with the brakes. It's got a great brake feel, too. They stop really hard, but you can give it exactly the amount you want. You're getting that feedback from the car. The steering is super quick, so you have to really be precise with your inputs so that you don't overdo it, and it's got a lot of power going only to the rear wheels. With an active limited slip back there that'll push the power out, you can get this car sideways coming out of a corner without trying too hard if you turn things off. So you've really got to like drive this car right, and that's a fun challenge. The suspension feels just right, too. I mean, it's definitely a little stiff, but it's stiff for a reason. Like, it really pays off in the handling. Yeah, you get bumped around a bit more in your seat, but it grips. It's tuned perfectly fine to give you that sportiness without feeling it too much. Now, you do pay for the privilege of all this performance just north of $80,000. At $80,000 as equipped, you do get a lot for your money. Not only the performance part, but the cabin is really nice. The screens are big and bright, and I love how well-coordinated it is. If you look closely, they're using the M, you know, three-stripe colors, right? It's on the doors. It's on the seats. Everything goes together really well, and you don't see that kind of like attention to detail in just anything. The experience here is how the car drives, but everything that we have here inside is just an extra. You can see where your money went in this car. Okay, I got to put my phone down. Miguel's driving. All right, so we are now in the Audi. So far, so good. The BMW is six-cylinder, rear-wheel drive for more than 400 horsepower. This is a five-cylinder, all-wheel drive, 394 horsepower, 369 pound-feet of torque. If you look at the specs, this one doesn't do quite as well on a corner, but like it's quick. This is under four seconds to 60. It's got a great launch. It's also lighter than the BMW, too, so it really takes off like a rocket. It feels a lot more nimble, and that's what's so cool about it is this car has this super trick twin-clutch rear differential where there's a clutch on each rear axle. Of the power that's going to the back, it can send zero to 100 percent to either wheel. When you get into a corner and you like start getting on the throttle, it can send all the power to that outside wheel and really push the car around the corner, and it really makes this car feel like an all-wheel drive car. Audi's engineers have really maxed out of everything that they could do with this platform and still deliver a car that is super fun to drive. It's able to compete with a rear-wheel drive car and just deliver on the enthusiasm, on the performance behind the wheel, on that connection that you feel with the road. And it's $77,000, so a little bit cheaper than the BMW. Only a little bit, though. You can tell that Audi put all the money into the performance of this car. It has carbon ceramic brakes on the front axle. It's got this engine. It's got this trick rear differential. It's got all this power, but that's where all of it went. Everything in this Audi is kind of shiny plastic. It feels like all the money that went into the interior went into making it green in places, which is cool. It matches the outside grade. It's kind of fun. It doesn't feel like as expensive a car as it is. It just feels like you're getting a bit more in the BMW. Both of them are quite expensive, but once you compare apples to apples, I think the BMW wins that battle. And if you look purely on performance, too, this car only wins in a straight line. But everywhere else, the BMW just blows right past this in any kind of handling test. And as much as this car feels like it's really planted and has a ridiculous amount of grip, the BMW is just plain fast around a road like this. The Audi has a very sensitive brake pedal. You have to be very careful on how much you want to really step on the brakes. Yeah, because the fronts are carbon ceramic and doing most of the work, you have to get some heat in them before they really start to work. And once you do, the ride is a little bit softer. That is something that I love about both of these cars is that for as fast as they are and as much fun as they are to drive, both of them, when you turn off the sport modes and everything else, they both become pretty livable for a performance car. They're reasonably quiet inside. They're easy to drive around town. Like neither one is like super aggressive all the time. Yeah, but it's just like the quality of the materials is where I just feel like if I'm paying $77,000, I want something that's nicer than this. But then you still have this. I know, but it's still fun. I love both of these cars. I love the way both of them drive, but they are different. And that's what makes it so hard to pick them. I don't know, Miguel. I'm still kind of conflicted. I love the way each of these cars drive individually. If I could, I would just have both. And I think if anybody went to a dealer and they only drove one and then bought it, I think they'd be very, very happy with it. But I don't know how to make that into picking a winner. Absolutely. I mean, they're both great. I think the BMW has a stronger case. And, you know, when you look at performance of intelligent function, both of them deliver everything. I think the BMW handles better. And then, you know, for $3,000 of a difference, like, you know, anybody buying a $75,000 plus sports car doesn't really care about $3,000. And with those $3,000, you get 100 extra horsepower, 100 extra pound-feet of torque, another cylinder, a nicer interior, a car that handles better, manual transmission, you know, so there is a lot more that you get for that small price difference. The Audi is great, don't get me wrong. But when you look at that, I think the BMW makes a stronger case. No, I think you make a really good point. When you consider everything we have here, I mean, I think the BMW has to be the winner, right? I think so. So to read more from the M2 and the Audi RS3, head over to MotorTrend.com.