Some of you may remember the video of Chris Harris taking his M3 around the 'Ring. Well, there is an article in this week's magazine about it and, bearing in mind the rather poor review they gave at launch, it seems that the car is well and truly growing on him!
In brief, he talks initially about the running in period and how complicated it is. More importantly, the fact that the manual, the quick reference guide and the windscreen sticker all give different advice. So, after going through his first service, he decided to give his car a proper run in at the 'Ring. The weather was awful and he apparently spent two days trying not to crash, but he still had a great time. To quote him on his return, he says -
"Two thousand miles in, I really can't understand how any car enthusiast couldn't like this machine. The more I drive it, the more I'm amazed by what it offers. It is quite unlike my previous long-termer, the RS4, not least because it isn't an estate car, but one area of its performance has surprised me more than I expected: Straight-line speed. It feels much faster than the Audi, and the motor is superior in every area.
The chassis electronics are so good that being rear-driven is nothing like the hindrance I expected in the wet, but there are other areas of serious irritation. The steering wheel is far too thick, the seating position is too high and I keep bashing my knee on that silly protruding electric key. But I do console myself in all other areas. To my eyes, it looks superb in white, the driving experience is just what I'd hoped for and the subject of steering is yet to corrupt this relationship. Is it worth the same money as a 911? I shall look forward to answering that question."
Some other points - he does talk about possibly replacing the 19" wheels with 18s soon, although he doesn't say why and he can't praise the Logic-7 hi-fi high enough. All in all, it's a pretty good write up. I'm glad he's starting to appreciate what he's got!
