OK. The C&D test claims that the Porsche is heavier by 150lbs, or did I read that incorrectly? My info on top speed of an unlimited M3 comes from a local BMW mechanic and driver trainer, I can only assume that the unlimited model he had must rev a little higher than what is generally available. His statement was that it did a full 330kmph. Sorry. This turns out to be an erroneous claim for any purposes of this conversation.
Apologies.
I also have never claimed that our cars are faster than the 997 TT under any or all conditions. I have limited my assertion to a specific situation that occurs over here fairly regularly. My claim is merely anecdotal for all practical purposes. I keep seeing stats and I do not doubt them or discount them. But I see no multi-gear stats for 180-250 (Southlight thanks! Now get out there and find a 997TT to back me up.) But in the end, I think ilhyn nailed it. It could just be that I outdrove a couple of guys. Still interesting, no? Especially given that C&D tested the M3 at 4.1 seconds and the test Southlight was showing for the 997 TT was 3.9 but I am likely wrong...or perhaps not.
Mexico
Your synopsis is not exactly correct, but in the end... I think you are mixing me up with someone else on the tiptronic thing. I also know the history of Porsche dating back so I am fairly familiar with the car numbers though not all. I used to be a bit of a Porsche fanatic as a teenager. Growing up there was a 930 at the end of my street. I can recognize the sound of a Porsche rather well and it imprinted me.
Damn. Chow? Guess I should have expected it. Sorry. Our resources are too good in Spain. I only go down there for the big deals. My Italian is much better.
M3NTAL
Lighten up on the ignorance. I am not a dumbass.
x is what I typed in when I was poking around in the controls for a way to delete the account. There is no mystical glow around Autobahn, normally it is choked with trucks from all points in Europe. On the rare Sunday when trucks are banned, or at night, that Zen of cruising for hours at high speed is the difference, and I have been up to this mischief for eight years now. Years ago, I used to drive at very high speeds in the USA. Difference is that there are quite a few high power cars that prowl over here getting from A to B, and a match up is very, very common. It develops shifting skill. Not a late night solitary "if-that-detector-goes-red-where-is-the-next-exit-before-the-radio-roadblock" type of thing. Unless you use a jammer.
My best average times on road trips have been in France (before the newer laws) and in the USA. The Autobahn is as you point out correctly, a lot of speeding up and slowing down, but at least the morons are semi-looking for someone coming from behind. It trains shifting.
Now that you finally opened the gear ratio argument, I was out on my single speed fixed gear bike this afternoon, and had time to think about a way I might be able to explain this in the face of so much adverse conviction. The ratio on my bike is fixed and single speed (track bike.) That means if I want to go faster the only thing I can do is spin faster to increase speed. It also means that for every pedal revolution I travel a very specific number of meters.
This is identical to what an engine mated to a transmission does. The RPMs have a direct effect on the net number of meters that are dished out by the back rotating wheels. A higher RPM translates to more meters (depending on the ratios) unless the competing car is very quickly increasing its RPMs with a higher gear and better ratio and more power. A 997 TT has to shift somewhere between 6500 and the redline of 7100...and it takes a hit on HP for each shift from the fans spinning down and spinning back up...correct me on this point. That means that if the normally aspirated M3 can rev 1300 higher it can twist the back wheels for more -total meters- despite the lower engine power under that relationship, no?
In the end, nobody believes me here, or believes the silly story that I am telling. That is ok. I must admit that the posts once I started whining about how nobody loved me have gotten much better.
Southlight
I see the stats. They still are all single gear acceleration numbers. Get out there, and find one. Kill. I was surprised.
ilhyn
Axe. *chuckling* nicely done.
Spearfisher
You are right. I do not have an M3. I am a 12 year old girl in Boise, Idaho with an active imagination.
All
I guess what I am trying to say is that if you can shift worth a damn, you can beat things you might not have guessed you could. Or you might need to up your medication.