Originally Posted by bruce.augenstein@comcast.
I was actually pleased by that Car & Driver report. One of the things that bothers me about the E46 M3 is the fact that you need to go for the right-hand side of the tach in order to go quickly. There's no such thing as lazy speed in that car. (As an aside, this would bother me less if the exhaust note was any good. Decades of sonorous snarl from BMW sixes replaced by that tinny rasp.)
In any event, the engine boys at the M Group apparently decided to forego maximum torque in favor of broadening the entire curve - and apparently it's paid off this time. 111 mph in the quarter mile is very impressive for a car that tips the scales at 3649 pounds (as BMW told the Edmunds people), and 12.9 seconds is about right for that mph on street sneakers. Furthermore, Autoweek reported a 50 - 75 mph time of 4.9 seconds in top gear, which is stupid fast (that's a technical term, son). You won't find another street car that can do this.
I know, I know. In concept, nobody cares about top gear performance, but I'll tell you what: Out on the road, everybody cares. Just tickling the gas pedal out on the highway and whoosh!, you're gone, is an attribute that will bring a grin to every driver's face, every time.
Other than the fact that this new car is very heavy, and thus less tossable than the previous car, this car is better in pretty much every way - thus continuing a long tradition of the M Group. Each M3 has been bigger, heavier and less tossable (thus less fun to drive) than the one before it, and altogether a better car.
This time, however, the more useable power band may mean the new one is just as much fun to drive as the E46 version, even though it'll be less tossable.
Making comparisons, the 335i, in my opinion, is a seriously flawed car - enough so that I skipped out and went Japanese for my four-door three months back because of the open rear (had a bad experience during the test drive) and the runflats. Sure, it'll be a top gear terror with the Vishnu (or other) mods, but coming out of turn three at NHIS, you're just going to make enough smoke to take over for the Bug Comissioner. Sure, you can throw a rear in there, and mod the supension (not to mention the brakes), but then you'll be sacrificing one of the things that BMW does better than anybody else, which is the ride/handling compromise. Oh, the 12.6 @ 109 with the Vishnu? Forget about it. Nobody's doing that without traction aids.
Comparing the new car with a Vette? Don't. Vettes are killer cars either in a straight line or on a road course, and the new M3 won't be able to match them. It'll be closer, but apparently the '08 Vette will get even more power, along with tweaked steering and a high-zoot (for $4K) interior. The single downer they have from a performance point of view is that they're slugs in top gear.
What BMW does best is back-road banditry. They're better than nearly anything else on bumpy back roads, and you'll screw that up by modding a 335i.
I think the new car will be worth the money.
Bruce
|