Last week UK auto site Car Wow brought us this pretty unusual drag race, where not all the contestants were cars, or even on the ground. This week’s AWD drag race is far more even keeled. In fact, you are unlikely to find four cars more evenly matched.

Natural rivals

This series of races features four natural rivals. The newly launched BMW M135i takes on the, also-new Mercedes-AMG A35, the outgoing VW Golf R and, the only saloon car in the line-up, and Audi S3. Check out our review of the Golf R here. Learn more about the Mercedes-AMG A35 at this link and the new, hatchback BMW M135i here.

All cars featured in the AWD drag race are powered by 2,0-litre inline four-cylinder engines. To ramp up power, each engine is fitted with a turbocharger. Power is near identical in each case, hovering around the 225 kW (300 bhp) mark, with similar levels of torque across the board.

Each car is fitted with an automatic transmission that sends power to all four wheels. In keeping with the “level playing field” theme, all the transmissions feature a launch control function that allows for perfect take-offs time and time again. Watch the AWD drag race as these four, near identical, cars from different manufacturers take each other on in a standing start acceleration test to 400 metres, a rolling race and a brake test.