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Audi S3 pitted against BMW M135i in track battle

Audi and BMW have long been enemies on both the road and the track, with their respective M and S/RS lines duking it out to the delight of auto enthusiasts everywhere. In this video from Evo, two of the rivalry's newest combatants take to the track - the Audi S3 and the BMW M135i.
The new Audi S3, which is finally coming to America, throws down with a 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder. 290 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque are deployed to a Quattro all-wheel-drive system via a six-speed, S-Tronic dual-clutch transmission, allowing the five-door Audi to scamper to 60 in under five seconds.
The BMW, which Americans will know as a long-roof version of the new M235i Coupe, comes to the track with 320 ponies and 331 lb-ft of torque. That's a good bit more than the Audi, but the M135i has only two wheels to send its power to, an eight-speed single-clutch automatic (a six-speed manual is available) and a slightly higher curb weight.

2015 BMW M4 Coupe ditches some doors, gains some grunt

If you saw our earlier post about the hot new BMW M3 Sedan and were about to call blasphemy for no coupe version, just settle down, silly. Remember: BMW now badges its two-door 3 Series models with the number four, and thus, meet the 2015 M4 Coupe. Looks hot, right?
So yeah, it's pretty much just the M3 with two less doors, but that doesn't make it any less important - or potent. Power comes from a turbocharged, 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine, sending 425 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels via either a six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. You know, the usual.
Not only is the M4 more powerful than the M3 Coupe it replaces, it's a good deal lighter, too. BMW has managed to cut 176 pounds of weight out of the M4, and that means, with the increased output numbers, that the M4 will scoot to 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds with the DCT or 4.1 seconds with the do-it-yourself tranny. Either way, that's not what we'd call slow.

A look back on BMW, South Carolina and Southern manufacturing

It has been 20 years since BMW broke ground on its Spartanburg, SC manufacturing facility, and while the automaker doesn't have any plans to mark the moment, economists and industry analysts have taken a closer look at the facility's impact on South Carolina, the South and global manufacturing. As of November, the Spartanburg plant's 7,000 employees cranked out 25,000 vehicles per month, and BMW has poured some $6 billion into the state since the plant opened in 1993. While that figure nearly matches the state's proposed budget for next year, some say there have been drawbacks.
To begin with, South Carolina provided BMW with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of public money and tax breaks with little public oversight, setting a precedent that would repeat itself with other corporations. The Detroit News reports that a Pew Center evaluation found 26 states didn't have a sufficient system for evaluating tax incentive performance. But BMW opened the door for a Southern manufacturing renaissance, with automakers from Mercedes-Benz to Hyundai and Volkswagen opening plants in the Deep South.
While states have raced to offer ever sweeter tax and cash incentives for big manufacturers, officials say BMW is proof the system can pay dividends. You can read the full piece here.