M3 declared R&T's "Sultans of Slide" drift king

[mkoesel]

Look for a spike in M3 accidents next month as inexperienced people now go out and try to validate the article as they are goaded on by friends and peers.

[bobbyd1961]

i guess we all made the right choice.

[URBAN LEGEND]

Originally Posted by rav7ks

Ok let's go drifting around Ft. Meade this weekend..lol

In for drifting around the Military Police with the mag on the dash..

[ersin]

Originally Posted by rav7ks

Ok let's go drifting around Ft. Meade this weekend..lol

Great. Be sure to warn all the state troopers that hang out there.

[JJM335]

The M3 is fantastically balanced and easy to control in a slide...especially with MDM. I think that has a lot to do with it.

[meevo]

clarkson had a test too for this.. didn't come up with the same result though

[Pimp Star]

Originally Posted by meevo

clarkson had a test too for this.. didn't come up with the same result though

He thought balance was bad... I think he's getting old and patriotic, thinking a convertible Jaguar can hold a candle to a BMW M3.

[meevo]

i'm willing to bet the jag would drift better than the m3 though

[JMD0977]

Originally Posted by meevo

i'm willing to bet the jag would drift better than the m3 though

C63?

[GTM]

Originally Posted by ACZakka325i

Lots of power + Balance + LSD = Drift Car.

Whats so surprising.

I cant agree more!

Also M3 does have pretty long wheel-base, and great throttle reponse which helps to break rear loose much eaiser!

[GTM]

Originally Posted by JMD0977

C63?

Only if it is equipeed with optional LSD...but it's still Auto.

[GTM]

Originally Posted by JJM335

The M3 is fantastically balanced and easy to control in a slide...especially with MDM. I think that has a lot to do with it.

Actually, MDM only allows very small drift angle.(less than 5-10 degree from what I feel)

[Reedomn]

A quote from the article..."Like a Formula 1 engine, the M3’s 4.0-liter V-8 delivers the bulk of its 414 bhp high on the tach. Not exactly ideal for drifting, but good enough to get the 265/40ZR-18 rear tires loose in most situations."

Looks to me like they were running 19's???.......

[FStop7]

Fifth Gear did a comparison between the C63 and the M3 as to which was the better drift car, I'm pretty sure the C63 won. Not surprising considering all of that immediate torque available.

[BimmerBoomer]

FULL REVIEW:
http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/co...ltans_of_slide


>“If I had the money to afford one, I would buy one,” Millen said with a wink. “Although it didn’t have the torque I was expecting from a V-8, its gear ratios were fantastic."

>Yoshihara added: “It felt very fast through the entire course, and the quick steering made it easy to maintain control at all times. I was surprised that it didn’t have more low-end torque because the power at the top end was so good. I needed to adjust my driving style a little to keep the tachometer needle high in the rev range.”

>Like a Formula 1 engine, the M3’s 4.0-liter V-8 delivers the bulk of its 414 bhp high on the tach. Not exactly ideal for drifting, but good enough to get the 265/40ZR-18 rear tires loose in most situations. And besides, any engine shortcomings were made up by the car’s chassis.

The M3 easily won this comparo http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/co...ltans_of_slide, in spite of its Achilles heel.

[MSPORTWORLD]

Interesting read! Good find!

[Remonster]

Originally Posted by FStop7

Fifth Gear did a comparison between the C63 and the M3 as to which was the better drift car, I'm pretty sure the C63 won. Not surprising considering all of that immediate torque available.

Not surprising considering Brits don't know what drifting is (just kidding) but they basically chose the C63 because it created more smoke. Best Motoring gave the M3 a 100% drift score and that's coming from Tsuchiya, the guy credited with 'inventing' drifting.

[swamp2]

Just because a car has a V8 expecting gobs of torque, low end or not is unreasonable. This perception does not make ones opinion on the subject valid.

It is not accurace language to say that the car makes or delivers the bulk of its hp high in its rpm range. The cars hp curve is almost perfectly linear and peaks at redline. What the author should have said (and probably means) is that due to the cars high redline, and flat torque curve, extracting the most performance from it requires mostly high rpm driving.

[!Xoible]

Originally Posted by swamp2

Just because a car has a V8 expecting gobs of torque, low end or not is unreasonable. This perception does not make ones opinion on the subject valid.

.

torque comes with displacement. Ferrari 360 with a 3.9 V8 didnt get more torque than the S65

correction 3.6 liter engine, 275 lb/ft

[330CIZHP]

It is more because you do not have a idea of what they are talking about - relative terms of how torquey down low a V8 is perceived to be for a car this fast. Drifting is all about low-end torque, which is why it is a subject in this article. No high revving engine ever makes gobs of torque down low compared to the power it puts out in top rpms.

Most people who think V8 think gobs of tire shredding low end torque like a stang GT or Corvette. 300 ft-lbs of torque@3900 rpm on the M3 is tons of torque enough to haul 6000 lbs easily uphill if it has tall gearing and towing suspension to haul.

If you look at the 0-60 and 1/4 mile numbers of 4.1 secs and 12.5 secs, it was faster than 99% of the cars including IS-F etc. Only 0.1 seconds behind Corvette grand sport.

All it says, M3 makes all the right amount of torque at the right place for maximum acceleration with perfectly matched gear ratios and a perfectly matched high rpm redline, but not a tire shredding low-end torque monster V8.

[erio]

Interesting that they also said the following:

"Although drifting hasn’t caught on in Europe like it has in Japan and the U.S.—most professional European drifters come here to compete—this all-out drifting comparison test was won by a German. With a good score in the Performance portion of our test, plus a win in the Subjective rankings, the M3 was our clear winner, the best production drift car."

http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/co..._bmw_m3_page_8

[BimmerBoomer]

Originally Posted by swamp2

It is not accurace language to say that the car makes or delivers the bulk of its hp high in its rpm range. The cars hp curve is almost perfectly linear and peaks at redline. What the author should have said (and probably means) is that due to the cars high redline, and flat torque curve, extracting the most performance from it requires mostly high rpm driving.

Actually, linear torque and a lofty redline produces just the result cited - most of the power is at higher rpms.