E92 M3 vs. GT3 vs. GT-R AUTOCAR Video

[gbb357]

Agreed, not a fair test at all. 5.2 to 60 on the M3 is a joke, but then again he did mentioned the tires are slightly worned out.

[Driver72]

I love how they use a $500 VBox in the test.
Funny how when car mags use it and list their times, people believe them. But if someone else uses one and posts their times people discredit the time because of the use of it.
But it is in fact the most accurate way to measure time/speed in so many different tests.

BTW, the M3 was surely at a handicap there.
Regardless of the time not being the fastest around the track, looked like he was having a lot more fun drifting the M3 around the corners. What a blast that is.

Wonder what was up with his brakes though?

He lost .5 seconds to 60 with spinning so much in 2nd gear. You can hear it just sit and spin for 1/2 a second.

[AtoB]

all great cars.
but the M3 is not in the same league as the porsche, and let's face it the Nissan it a freaking BEAST! that said, i agree the M3 should have had better numbers... and as for the brakes... disappointing.

[M3EST]

Niiice.

[SoCali E36]

Originally Posted by lucid

Yes, note that he did not dump the clutch in the M3, but he did in the GT3.

thats because if he dumped the clutch on the m3 he would have stayed in one spot for 4 sec.s

[Deathboy]

excellent video

[ChrisFastM3]

Originally Posted by Driver72

I love how they use a $500 VBox in the test.
Funny how when car mags use it and list their times, people believe them. But if someone else uses one and posts their times people discredit the time because of the use of it.
But it is in fact the most accurate way to measure time/speed in so many different tests.

I don't really believe 0-60 times in mags except for a few (i.e. Car & Driver) which have facilities to get the most accurate info.

[E82tt6]

It was 2 degrees C, which also explains the bad 0-60/0-100 times for the RWD cars. Summer tires (Even more so the R compounds on the Porsche) just don't work well when it's that cold.

Besides, that test wasn't supposed to demonstrate the maximum possible. He only did one pass in each car. No practice, no nothing. He was trying to give a sense of how each car would do in something like a random stoplight GP. I thought it was a very fair test, especially given the guy driving it bought an M3. I'd be curious to see what kind of difference track oriented pads would make on the M3's brake problems.

[cyba]

nice video

[JEllis]

I look at this test in this way,

I am flattered as an M3 enthusiest that BMW was even invited to this almost supercar party. Given that, in many ways, the M3 historically has never even come close to GT3 performance let alone C2S performance.

I really enjoyed the video of the beautiful AW M3 and the sounds it made. For me, the sound is almost worth the money let alone the performance. I am sure my brakes will be fine on my daily trips down the highway!

Jason

[JEllis]

Also, his thoughts about DSG/DCT are some serious selling points on the tranny.

Lets say the new DCT really doesnt make the M3 any quicker than the best 6MT time. The real benefit is being able to hit that every single time. Point the nose and hit the throttle...4.1 sec every single time!!!

Jason

[e36jakeo]

What is up with the M3's brakes??!! I think the whole cross-drilled thing is pure M - for - Marketing! Even with a street compound they should be able to survive 2 laps in 2 degree C (36 F) weather!! That is pretty disgusting.

One + is I hear you can opt for track pads on the M3. As long as I can switch them back and forth for track days and still have them keep my rotor warranty (4 yrs/50K everything free) I guess it is all good.

[Jason-NY]

Massive ownage, just massive. That little Datsun is out to kick ass and take names, no denying that by even the biggest fanboys.

[a burrito]

great video.. the guy ADMITS that he is biased to the M3 yet it comes in last. better yet the m3 is his so he knows how to drive and launch better than both the gt3 and the gtr because hes driven it much than the two although his 60 time wasnt impressive, we all know that it wouldn't make a comparable difference against the gt3 or the GTr. I don't even know why it was in the comparison....

I think the effort to drive those cars was fair and the facts are there, the GTR is faster,easier, and an amazing performance machine. I have to really give it up to nissan. Its time to see what everyone else has to offer after what nissan has set as a benchmark..

BTW, i would never get a GTR myself. I am an avid german car enthusiast or better yet, anything non japanese and I am crazily biased with the m3 and the gt3 so trust me, it kinda hurts to watch the video.

[GarryF]

Maybe his brakes were as worn as his tyres? Kind of unfair taking a car that's been used for 4-5 months and throwning it up against cars that almost certainly have been specially prepped by the manufacturer for the test.

As others have said it's a compliment to the M3 just to be compared to these types of cars, I expect bmw will be looking at these cars as the mark to beat with the csl.

When I had a test drive I did one 0-60 and got a bit of 2nd gear wheel spin, I'd like to think after a few months of ownership I'd be able to control it better than that

[moog55]

The GT-R may be faster, but it looks and sounds ordinary compared to the porsche and m3. and at the end of the day, it's still just a nissan.

[Zeiss]

I would have loved to see the M3 equipped with M-DTC and proper tyres
Anyone else find the new GT-R bland and boring? Aside from the faint exhaust note, the car seems to be perfect to the point that you don't really have to put any effort into driving.

[Antinontoxic]

Originally Posted by the_stranger

shouldn't M dynamic mode be used instead of switching off the DSC?

Exactly!

Even Tiff knows it....

[ashkgerd]

BMW can and should do better

[footie]

Regarding the M3's times and the other two, some info, the Porsche was from Porsche GB and I believe the GTR was a import from a customer, similar to the CAR test. If you listen to what he said the lap test was one out lap and then a timed lap, that is no real time to warm CUP tyres, especially on a 1 minute lap so the other two cars, GT3 and GTR, their times would have improve even more than the 1:04/1:04.3 times they got.

The M3 isn't capable of getting close to either of these cars, regardless if the brakes were of any quality and even if they had swapped the tyres to CUP+, it is a sportscoupe with four very usable seats. The acceleration run was an insight into the reality of a race against someone, it was a one take at it, similar to what you get in real race. In the GTR the thing will do that time day in day out and the reason is awd, even if it didn't have DSG the thing wouldn't have any problems producing a decent time, with both the GT3 and M3 you have to manage wheel spin and the sad truth in that in the heat of the moment you don't always get it right. And this I might add is a talented guy with a few months experience of the M3. He already said the time could have been improved but the reality is a 10.5s for a 100mph run is probably the best average one could expect from the M3 in a normal surface.

P.S.

I reckon before they had do the test they probable tried the best options, I reckon with he experience of the M3 (it is his after all) he would know the best option for the conditions and if he felt M-Dynamic wouldn't have been beneficial then we should except that.

[ashkgerd]

Originally Posted by ashkgerd

BMW can and should do better

I am BMW's dad!

[abbood]

Very nice videos...

I was wondering.. is it fair to compare cars with different horsepower ?