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Two from the Far East, a third from the Old World, and all three motoring emblems of their times. Going from the oldest to the youngest, let us introduce the contenders. From 1987, a rotary-engined Mazda RX-7, a 2JZ-swapped Nissan 240 SX from ‘96, and a 1999 BMW M3.

All three cars have been heavily modified – or so the Youtuber who organized the quarter-mile event claims. Sadly, due to an editing error, the specs for the RX-7 have been lost in translation, so don’t take the video for granted.

The Mazda sports the 1.3-liter rotary engine – the free-breather model, not the turbocharged version. Not that it would have made too much of a difference, as neither variant goes beyond 200 hp. Nowhere near the alleged 500 whp, as you can deduce by the race results.

Mazda RX\-7 v BMW M3 v Nissan 240SX

Photo: YouTube/Sam Carlegion

The Nissan 240SX, on the other hand, does have the Toyota piston legend in it – the three-liter inline-six overkill engine makes around 500 whp, and it has a T56 Tremec six-speed manual linked to the rear axle. Lauded as one of the most tunable engines on Planet Piston, the 2JZ has been upgraded with forged internals and a Borg 372SXE turbocharger that fires 21 PSI on 93 octane gas.

However, because it is a daily driver, it has the complete interior and air conditioning and carries its spare tire. That’s probably why it didn’t beat the BMW in a head-to-head clash – but it could also  be that got frightened by the slippery Bimmer during the warm-up rolling race.

The yellow M3 went a little sideways and cut off the Nissan, and that’s why the races run eliminator-style, to avoid potential metal-against-metal incidents. It is irrelevant whether the 520-whp output of the 3.2-liter inline-six BMW was to blame for the zig-zagging warm-up. The critical detail here is the 11.8-second quarter-mile time recorded by the turbo M3.

Mazda RX\-7 v BMW M3 v Nissan 240SX

Photo: YouTube/Sam Carlegion

The tuned BMW had dropped the Mazda by the time it shifted into second – the aging RX-7 became a rotary-piston speck in the Bavarian’s rearview mirror, crossing the 1,320-foot mark in 15.3 seconds. The German only repeated its performance against the other Japan-armed contender.

The 2JZ-powered Nissan 240SX put up a better fight than the Mazda, scoring 12.3 seconds on the quarter-mile sprint. It hit 60 mph (97 kph) just three-tenths of a second behind the BMW M3 (4.8 versus 4.5), while the RX-7 only managed 6.9 seconds.


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