[Serious]

The high redline in addition to short gearing allow cars like m3's and s2000's to accelerate as quickly as much larger displacement cars.

effectively what you have is a lance armstrong vs. a body builder in a bicycle race. the body builder may have legs twice as strong but he can only pedal so fast... whereas skinny athletic lance armstrong can pedal alot faster and use a lower gear so he doesn't have to be as strong... this allows him to go faster then the body builder. m3 vs. mustang or corvette.

Simple analogy obviously you have to account for weight, traction, etc.