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Sorry Guys, I was lazy this time and didn't take any proper pictures, although I would need to have held them back until the magazine was published anyway. Likewise I don't want to give the game away in terms of how the M3 fared (which is the whole point of the story).
I can tell you that it was a lot of fun and had a chance to compare it with some known benchmarks.
Again, I can't disclose anything material to the story but I can tell you that the 19" wheels do not look any wider than the 18" wheels, so the stance doesn't change. Also they ride fine on the kind of poor roads we have here in the UK (the test was undertaken in Wales), so there is no penalty to choosing 19" wheels over the 18" ones.
The interior of this car (a RHD Press car, rather than the LHD launch cars) was in black which made the interior feel a little more expensive than the Beige interiors of the launch cars.
I got the chance this time to just 'travel' in the M3, rather than just hoon around with the tail out. It drives well as a GT car, more relaxing than I first thought when in Marbella. The gearbox on this car was also smoother and less restrictive than the launch cars, so that bodes well. But it also seemed a 'little' bit quieter, but still louder than the E46 M3.
The cars we compared it against included E34, E49 and E60 M5's. M6, Z4M Coupe, Z3 M Coupe, E30 M3, E36 M3, E46 M3 CS, E46 M3 CSL and finally the original M1.
I won't tell you which was victorious, but we eliminated 8 cars at the end of day 2, and then picked a winner from the final 4.
I can't really say any more about the comparison, but it will be published in next month's EVO.
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