EVO Mag Group Test: BMW M3 vs RS5 vs C63 AMG vs Boss 302 Mustang

[J-boogey]

Originally Posted by Wolf

I'll take one M3 and one C63 coupe please

yesssss

[Moo]

Would have been even more interesting if they've thrown the 1M into this mix

[JBE90335]

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

It's interesting how the M3 is still named best drivers car after 5 years.

rigged. lol

[Trojan4evr]

Mad Mad Respect for M3.

[Voice of reason]

Nice!!!

Even better the new M3 has been running around Munich- lot's of promise- even lighter, slighly more powerfull- cant wait'!!

[Murph335]

1m comes stock with light concave, and most 135 I see have vmr or some kind of replica light concave. I vote for a flat spoke step lip wheel, no curving cheater spokes to make the lip look bigger. Workvsxx are usually pretty straight no curve, hre I think it's a c20 step lip. Also set it off with a fat aggressive offset I haven't seen a 1m on stancenation yet!

[Remonster]

Originally Posted by Murph335

1m comes stock with light concave, and most 135 I see have vmr or some kind of replica light concave. I vote for a flat spoke step lip wheel, no curving cheater spokes to make the lip look bigger. Workvsxx are usually pretty straight no curve, hre I think it's a c20 step lip. Also set it off with a fat aggressive offset I haven't seen a 1m on stancenation yet!

I can only hope to never see a 1M on stancenation, those morons ruin everything they touch.

I've driven enough Audis (not the RS5, though) Mustangs, AMGs and BMWs to have been able to comfortably predicted this result. It's still nice to see, though, after all these years of the E9x M3 being with us.

[ekis18]

So the M3 has the worst HP/Weight ratio and still takes the cake...awesome engineering IMO!!

[esquire]

two things:

1) i'd take a second m3 in a heartbeat before i picked up a c63 as my second car.

2) it would have been cool to see the cadillac cts-v in this competition too.

[Toker335i]

how about a 60-130 race

[Evice]

I'll buy Boss 203 over C63, anyday.

[GMW]

Originally Posted by Evice

I'll buy Boss 203 over C63, anyday.

Haha, I hope that's a typo.

[bobbyz]

Originally Posted by mdosu

only 12.9 for the C63? The trap speed looks about right.

I'm not totally convinced that some numbers were not fudged.

The C63 in all the pictures DOES have the P31 performance package (red brakes and carbon rear spoiler)

I find it VERY hard to believe that on a drag strip, the M3 would beat out the 481hp (underrated) C63 in the article.

That said, I completely agree that as a complete package and on a track, the M3 is a better vehicle.

[M3V10]

M3 is still the boss (:

[TheBingoBalls]

Even near EOL the M3 still comes out on top. C63 is still quite the machine but even with two doors, it doesn't make a difference. E9x M3 takes this generation. Can't wait for the next M3/M4 whatever you want to call it!

[MrBonus]

Originally Posted by Richbot

Ford needs to make a 'Vette fighter with that motor in it. The Mustang is too big crude and awkward from behind the wheel for me to want one in a world where there are M3's. If you think the steering in the E9x M3 is too light and uncommunicative compared to M3's gone by, try a Mustang. Fantastically high performing vehicle and the value proposition is compelling but compared to the M3 it's just not as polished. And that makes perfect sense given the huge difference in price between a stripper M3 and a top-line Boss 302 Laguna Seca. Kindof like the Corvette, really. Smokes just about everything up to 4 times its price point but once the story the test equipment tells is over, there's nothing left.

In a world without M3's I'd be more inclined to own one.

Have you driven a Boss? The steering and feel of the car are nothing like a standard GT.

[bobbyd1961]

Originally Posted by GOLFFRR

M3 FTW

[Gator328i]

I don't know why automotive journalists continue to waste their time trying to compare other cars against the M3 (or really any 3-series for that matter).

The M3 is arguably the best car ever built, and these yahoos wanted to test it against a Mustang????

[MrBonus]

Originally Posted by Gator328i

I don't know why automotive journalists continue to waste their time trying to compare other cars against the M3 (or really any 3-series for that matter).

The M3 is arguably the best car ever built, and these yahoos wanted to test it against a Mustang????

I guess I must be nuts because I sold my 335d, passed on a Competition Package M3, and purchased a Boss Laguna Seca.

[Richbot]

Originally Posted by MrBonus

Have you driven a Boss? The steering and feel of the car are nothing like a standard GT.

Yup, and I agree the Boss is different from the GT but I wouldn't say it's much better. I think all of my issues with the Mustang would be solved by a 10% size reduction (weight is fine at 3500lbs, not worried about that) and about $10,000,000 in additional development time on the chassis. I'm thinking they're getting the best they can get from the current nearly 7 year old platform with the Boss. It's probably going to take another model cycle before I'm really happy with it but they're moving in the right direction and that's A Good Thing. Just think about what the "tire volume knob" aka "steering wheel" was like 12 years ago when the new edge cars came out, and those were considerably better than the SN95's. The M3 and M5 were the benchmark back when the Mustang was a car that only survived thanks to rental agencies and hairdressers and a few really lunatic fringe enthusiasts who just wanted a Mustang. If you wanted a competent performance car in the pony car segment you bought an F-body.

Building a great car for the money is one thing, building a great car that is great because it's great is something else. Ford is *almost* there. The fact that Ford is so close is just more proof that we live in the golden age. It wasn't always true that I would be happy driving anything made in this country short of the 'Vette and now even if we closed our ports to imported fully assembled vehicles tomorrow there are several to choose from.

[TheBingoBalls]

Originally Posted by MrBonus

I guess I must be nuts because I sold my 335d, passed on a Competition Package M3, and purchased a Boss Laguna Seca.

Maybe just a little?

That statement was pretty ignorant though. There isn't a perfect car. What all these comparisons show is that given a specific criteria, the M3 is the better car but that does not translate to real-world driving where drivers may prefer any of these cars to each other.

[jqsmooth]

Originally Posted by esquire

two things:

1) i'd take a second m3 in a heartbeat before i picked up a c63 as my second car.

2) it would have been cool to see the cadillac cts-v in this competition too.

+1 on #2