Hello,
I've been reserve in my judgement of the new M3 because I was hoping that even after the press release there was somethng more, an "intangable" that wasn't on paper that made this //M so special. I'm starting to loose faith. I know all the technology that went into making the M and I am personally a tech-junkie, but alot of it doesnt translate well to what I percieve an M3 to be.
Light & Agile. I do not like the concept of a
L O N G E R BMW. Plus the car looks cosmetically too fat, without the actual wheels dictating it's shoulders. I think BMW could've made fundemental strides to keep the M3 more Porsche like, so that you feel like your a Pilot and not just a driver. (AKA e30)
They made great strides in using a V8 thats was lighter than the previous inline-6, but at what cost...? 420 horses seems somewhat anemic for this pedigree of an icon, even though this car can rev quickly and has very long legs you still have to drive (rev) it hard to get any work done. The meager sub 300 ft-lb's of torque is what I'm unhappy about.
With such little torque the actual M3's performance numbers really don't distance itself from last years CSL. Why doesnt the M3 have Direct Fuel Injection (DFI)..?
I know the answer to this, offcoarse, Because next years model will go DFI and add about 10% more HP/TQ along with improved fuel economy. This really frightens me. Even the Venrable Porsche is going DFI and we all know how resistant to change the PAG group is. This illustrates that BMW is looking forward to their own "improved" version, the CSL instead of making a difinitive benchmark car that takes it's competitiojn head on. First and formost, this is an
M3 I think BMW made an awsome engine, its just misplaced. I think the engineers went toooo oversquare with the engine and reducing the rev-limit by 600rpm's to gain more torque through the powerband would've been a better decision....
I know this is long winded, I just feel BMW's M division could've made a better powerplant
without 8 butterfly's and put more technology into the drivertrain. I like the idea of a racy, high reving engine, but this cars performance numbers show it's lacking TORQUE. Also, BMW could've used alot more Carbon fibre and lessed the weight of the car substatially. Made it shorter with a fighterpilot cockpit and not some innovative airy, open Izod styled for tennis moms type of feeling I get. Audi or Porsche still have the right "feeling".
Which, coincidentally has a much more driver-centric interior and not the feeling I'm on the deck of some yaught. I'm a driver, not a Sailor, so why does BMW insist on designing their interior with Sailboat ques..?
All that and I guess i didn't say much.
-Garrett