Hey guys! This is my first official post on here so stay with me (could've sworn I already had an account but I guess not).
Okay so this isn't reallyyyy E46 vs E92 vs Camaro ss. Here let me explain...
I've been a happy owner of an E46 M3 competition package for about 3 years now. I am in love with this car and will never sell it, but it is getting up there in age and I have the itch for a new car. Just got a job and am looking to spend up to 45k lets say.
I've done tons and tons of research, I'm a data analyst so I take my time and make sure I'm certain of things before I make any decisions. I'm pretty much set on buying a competition package E92 M3. It's an amazing car all around and I think it'll compliment owning an E46 besides it well.
Then something happened. I was test driving cars at local dealerships with my friend (he wants a new wrx sti, they only had a wrx though so we drove that and it was sadly disappointing, hes hoping the sti is a more dramatic improvement) and afterwards decided hey I want to test drive something too just for fun really. So there was a dodge dealer next door and I was like hell let me try the SRT 392. They did not have any v8's available (I call bs but whatever lol). I've rented an R/T Challenger before though so I didn't care too too much to try the SRT, although I'm sure its a beast.
Across the street was a Chevy dealer, so I asked to test a camaro SS. They let me drive a 2019 Camaro SS automatic with 4 miles on it. Literally brand new.
I drove it, and drove the balls out of it (Break in period I know I know don't hate me).
Got back from the test drive, went home, and thought. That camaro was... well. It was fast as hell thats for sure. The torque and pickup was unreal, and the transmission surprised me for sure shifted super quickly. Interior was not bad at all, none of that garbage "Cheap" interior everyone always talks about. And the sound, omg the sound was amazing.
But.
I just didn't like it. Okay maybe thats the wrong way to put it, I didn't love it. It was fun and cool for sure but, I was definitely disappointed.
So then I thought well, if I love how my e46 drives, and wasn't a fan of the SS... is the E92 going to be more like the SS? Am I not going to like it?
I know that's not rational since the M3 is and M3 lol not a camaro, but I couldn't help think about it since it'll now be a dual clutch instead of single, be a larger and heavier car than the e46, and also have a v8.
So then I thought okay well what is it that makes me genuinely love the e46 drive so much more than the brand new, more powerful and lots faster camaro.
Is it the weight? The e46 is pretty damn light and the camaro is a big muscle car. So I looked up the numbers and the E46 was around 3,350 while the camaro I think was 3,700. Solid difference for sure but... definitely not as dramatic of a difference as I expected.
Maybe just the size of the car? Maybe I like smaller cars? Well the camaro isn't necessarily a boat, and I'm also 6'4 and weigh 275 pounds so I should enjoy larger cars anyways (seeing me get in and out of my e46 is hilarious)
Maybe its just the experience of the e46. It's older, more raw, more mechanical, more thrilling, single clutch feeling of a car than the new camaro. My father owns a nissan gtr, ferrari f430, and a maserati gran turismo. The gran turismo is a hell of a car but as far as fun to drive, does not compare to the others, even my e46 is more fun to drive. The GTR and F430 are completely different animals, the GTR is insanely quick and you cant help but smile every time you put your foot down, even around turns it handles amazing and is overall just such a fun car to drive. The F430 however, is my favorite. It is not as fast as the GTR, but somehow it just feels so much more thrilling to me. Everytime I drive it, I'm not stepping on the peddle and giggling, I'm holding the steering wheel tight and focusing intensely on the road in front of me for dear life, feeling the hard shifts every time I pull the paddle. My father truly enjoys the gtr drive more as im sure plenty others do too, but for me, the f430 is the most fun to drive.
Considering the gtr is all wheel drive, turbo'd, and weighs around 3,800 pounds, meanwhile the f430 is older, single clutch, NA, rwd, raw and light... it makes sense to me that I would enjoy that experience more because it is a lot closer to the e46 in those senses, just dialed up to 10 on each.
So I was like okay I guess that's what I enjoy. NA, RWD, Light, Small, Older raw and almost scary.
Then I drove my cousins BMW M4 Coupe, and... while I'm sure plenty will disagree with me... it was fun as hell.
I loved it. It was large yes but felt light and nimble, had loads of torque and power, steering felt tight, suspension, everything. I just truly enjoyed it.
Maybe I'll add an M4 to the stable one day in the future but not yet, not now.
The M4 though is large-ish, not NA, definitely modern and less raw and scary, has a great dct... if it's actually fairly different than the e46, why did I enjoy it so much more than the camaro? And will the e92 be just as fun as the other two M's? Or will it be like the camaro and I'll regret my decision of buying it.
Okay I wrote way more than I originally intended to lol, sorry about that.
Things to note, my e46 is lowered on H&R springs, and it is an SMG. My first car ever was a manual so when I buy the E92 I honestly wouldn't mind going back to a manual because I do miss it, but the DCT I've heard great things about so I'd go either way. And I've driven a manual e46 before and had loads of fun but the SMG gets way too much hate, sure it has plenty of reliability issues but in terms of pure experience I do enjoy it plenty.
Thanks!
Let me know what you guys think
