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It looks like a win-win for BMW. For the rest of us however, there’s much at stake.

We all know how brilliant the i8 hybrid is - how it combines a 3cyl engine, electric power and lightweight materials to spellbinding effect. A glimpse into the future, you’d say.

The M4 is a dinosaur by comparison - the same front engined, rear-wheel drive layout that has served BMW for decades. OK, so the engine in question is a sophisticated twin turbo straight-six, but it’s not a game-changer, it’s a refinement of a tried and tested formula.

Question is, can it out muscle the butterfly-doored star in BMW’s range? It’s rear-wheel drive against four-wheel drive, tradition against a brave new world, what we know versus what’s coming. On paper, this one’s too close to call.

Seconds out, round one...

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The 911’s layout is fundamentally wrong. Slung out over the rear axle is a silly place to have an engine, we all know that, but when it comes to drag racing its deformity is its friend. Whereas the Mercedes concentrates its mass towards the nose, the 911’s layout naturally forces its rear rubber into the road – the key to shotgun-fast starts.

Problem is, the AMG GT S laughs in the face of rear tyre contact patches because it has power, lots of power. Around 80bhp more than the Carrera GTS in fact and that gives it a two-tenths edge over the Porsche from 0-62mph. But as we all know, Porsche likes to lie through its teeth when it comes to official performance figures and watch our jaws drop when we strap timing equipment on the cars ourselves.

Small side note here - this is the pre-facelift, non-turbo model. The new 3.0-litre turbo Carrera S shaves a further tenth from this naturally-aspirated GTS’ official 0-62mph time. Yikes.

Anyway, enough trash talk. Settle in, it’s on.

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So far you’ve watched a BMW M4 take on a BMW i8 and lose, and an AMG GT go up against a Porsche 911 Carrera GTS and win. Now it’s time for something completely different.

The Ariel Nomad and Range Rover Sport SVR do have some things in common. Both are amongst the most outrageous cars launched in the last 12 months, each an attempt to blend sporting agility with off-road ability. They’re built in Britain. And that’s about it.

This is David and Goliath. 700kg vs 2335kg. 232bhp vs 542bhp. Rear wheel drive vs all wheel drive. Six speed manual vs eight speed auto.

Nevertheless, with a power to weight ratio of 331bhp/ton against the 232bhp/ton of the Range Rover, the Nomad should have this one sewn up.

These two are some of our very favourite cars. The SVR makes perhaps the naughtiest noise in the automotive jungle, and the Nomad? Well that’s more mosquito-like. We don’t know what we’d use one for if we owned it, but we know we’d have fun finding out.

Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets.

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This week we’re pitching two heavy payload workhorses against each other. And we can tell you how this one pans out: in the only area that matters, the Mercedes has this one sewn up.

We’re talking boot volume. A 695-litre load bay that expands to 1,950 litres when you fold the back seats flat. Room for many more Labradors than the RS6’s 565/1680-litre measurements.

We digress, of course. At the business end, these cars are much more evenly matched. Both employ a twin-turbo V8, 4.0-litres for the Audi plays 5.5 for the Merc. There’s not much in it for power (552bhp versus the Merc’s 577bhp), but on torque the Merc romps ahead (516lb ft against 590lb ft).

But the one significant advantage the RS6 enjoys here is 4WD. Which, when you’ve got two tons to get off the line (they both weigh 1950kg or thereabouts), is very helpful. So as you watch the video look at the claimed acceleration time of the RS6 and then what it actually did...

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Yes, yes, yes, we are well aware that hot hatches represent attainable performance, that they should place chuckability above outright power and straight-line acceleration. But bragging rights are bragging rights.

Although both fishing for roughly the same customers, the Volkswagen Golf R and Honda Civic Type R are very different, erm, rods. One is a Manga-inspired eye-ache, the other as subtle as magnolia curtains, and that’s just the styling.

The Golf has all the tools for a fast getaway: four-wheel drive, a DSG gearbox with launch control and 296bhp at it disposal, while the Civic relies on the front tyres for propulsion and is only available with a manual ‘box. But, the Honda claws its way back into the game with more power (306bhp) and around 100kg less to haul around.

Intriguing stuff. It could be the gearboxes that make all the difference here – after all, a human can never be as fast as a machine, can it? Click on to find out.

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The 542bhp, 4wd super-coupe takes on a pair of rivals that not only have around 100bhp less, but also sport two fewer driven wheels. They’re also cheaper...

So the outsome is rather predictable, if quite revealing for the extent of the Nissan’s margin of victory. Behind it, the battle is much closer as 470bhp naturally aspirated Lexus RC F battles 425bhp twin turbo BMW M4.

The power advantage might sit with the Lexus, but the BMW has a couple of ounces more torque and weighs a whole heap less. Like quarter of a ton less… The trouble is the latest BMW M3/M4, as you might have figured out by now, has rubbish traction off the line. Honestly, Launch mode would be better labelled Burnout mode.

So here you go, another of our drag challenges with one clear winner, but a proper fight for the runner-up spot.

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The Range Rover SVR weighs in at 2,333kg and produces 542bhp. The Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT runs at 2,418kg and 462bhp. The Porsche Cayenne Turbo S? 2,310kg and 562bhp.

So get ready for a tectonic plate change. All three of our heavyweight contenders promise 0-62mph in five seconds or less – the Cayenne much less.

But out here, in the real world (of um, a drag strip), which leviathan will be the first past the post?

Before you watch the video, have a guess and let us know below. Then hit play to watch the fireworks begin...

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The McLaren 675LT is rather good. Ditto the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS and Volkswagen Golf R. Throw all three of them in the mix and what you get is something interesting.

OK, so the result might – might – be a foregone conclusion, but it’s how they get there that’s interesting. Life being the journey and all that.

So, without further ado, hit play above and watch the 296bhp Volkswagen Golf R go up against the 424bhp Porsche 911 Carrera GTS and 666bhp McLaren 675 LT supercar.

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The Volkswagen California featured in the video above has a 2.0-litre, turbocharged diesel engine. It produces 178bhp and accelerates from 0-62mph in 12.4s. It is not fast.

Ditto the dinky little Smart Fortwo: this one has the non-turbo, 999cc three-pot engine with 70bhp. It will accelerate from 0-62mph in 14.9s. Again, not fast.

The Atom? Um, really, really fast. It’s the 3.5R, which gets a full 350bhp, a 0-60mph time of 2.5s and a top speed of 155mph. Proper.

Yes, it might be a no-brainer, but purely for review purposes, we decided to pit them together. Y’know, just to see. Have a watch of the video above to see how it unfolds.

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If you hadn’t already noticed, hot-hatches are getting faster, a phenomenon detailed in our ‘Fastest Accelerating Hot Hatches’ gallery. But while numbers on a web page are one thing, wheel to wheel drag racing is quite another. The real world brings into play such variables as gradient, grip, nerve and the quality of the driver holding the wheel, so there’s always everything to play for.

Our makeshift drag strip assembled at the Circuit des Ecuyers, during our ‘Focus RS vs the Rivals’ group test, was neither perfectly level nor perfectly dry. It wasn’t the regulation quarter-mile in length either (a fifth of a mile was nearer the mark) and there were three normal humans behind each steering wheel. But the same conditions applied to all three cars in the race.

The weapons each model had at their disposal were quite different, too. Both the VW Golf R and 376bhp Mercedes A45 AMG are blessed with twin-clutch gearboxes, four-wheel drive and launch control (although the VW trails the Merc by a full 80bhp), while the 345bhp Focus RS has a brutally-effective launch control system, but only a manual ‘box. Will this be the deciding factor? Will we hit Drift mode in the Focus by accident and make the world’s most flamboyant getaway from the start line?

All will be revealed, including one contender that got left behind before the race had even started...

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Three Volkswagen Golfs. They look (mostly) the same, but represent three very different ways of going quite quickly. What we have here then are the Golf R, Golf GTD and the evergreen Golf GTI. With the Performance Pack fitted.

On paper of course, the R has this thing in the bag, so it falls down to the race for second place. As ever with these things, the real world is a much greater test of a car’s sprint resolve. Anyone who saw the Focus RS vs Merc A45 AMG vs Golf R test will remember that numbers aren’t everything...

So, click on and watch as the GTD’s 181bhp and 280lb ft of torque plays against the GTI PP’s 227bhp/258lb ft, and the R’s headline 296bhp/280lb ft.