Midnight Drags- GT-R vs CL65 vs M5

Listen to the popular media — you know, media that's not obsessed with cars — and you'd believe internal combustion had run its course. To them, blowing up fuel inside cylinders is just so 20th century. What we should all be excited about is alternatives like hydrogen fuel cells and cars that run on batteries made from toenail clippings and coconut milk. As for me? I'm still in love with internal combustion.

I love the sound of an engine as every cylinder fires to produce a symphony of explosions. I love hearing the air being sucked in through an induction system. I love how a big V8's exhaust will rattle glass out of windowpanes when you start it in the morning. And there's simply nothing better than the thrust of an engine as it accelerates into its torque-rich sweet spot and your molars feel as if they've been pushed back into your spine. Nope, nothing else quite matches the good old internal combustion engine.

Except, of course, a jet. I could really go for a jet car.

Street Race: R35 GT-R vs. CL65 vs. M5




Just as Japanese culture has the rigidly formal Kabuki theatre, so we have the midnight street racing video. The camera work has to be a little shaky. The cars have to be painted black so they're a bit tough to pick up against the night sky. And they all have to feature the sound of the guys in one car giggling with glee.

Well, these two are near-perfect examples of the midnight street racing videos genre. Compensating for their strict adherence to form, however, is the fact that the cars racing are a new "R35" Nissan GT-R, a new Mercedes-Benz CL65 and a newer BMW M5 (the vehicle from which the videos were shot). So that's a twin-turbo V6 vs. a twin-turbo V12 vs. a high-revving V10. And that's enough internal combustion variety for me.