2007 Audi RS4 vs 2008 BMW M3 vs 2008 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

5MTenthus submitted on 11/05/2007 Official Bell & Ross Timestamp: 12:17 PM
from: www.motortrend.com

Tags: 2007 Audi RS4, 2008 BMW M3, 2008 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

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2007 Audi RS4

2008 BMW M3

2008 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

2007 Audi RS4 vs 2008 BMW M3 vs 2008 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

For much of the day, the quiet Taunus mountains in Germany -- rolling green hills, prosperous farmland, dark Hansel and Gretel pine forests, Volkswagens driven slowly by well-groomed women on narrow smooth roads -- sound like Darlington raceway. From sleepy hollow to days of thunder.

You just don't hear sounds like this in Europe. Cars here have four-cylinder engines, coarsened by diesel rattle. Even performance cars, short of the big-ticket Ferraris, have turbocharged four- or six-cylinder motors. In this neck of the woods, V-8s-and only V-8s can make this kind of sound-are as rare as Ford pickups and Dunkin' Donuts.

But the brand-new Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG and the more mature Audi RS4, especially in thunderous sport-exhaust mode (yes, a switch dials up the Darlington on the Audi!), sound like Jeff Gordon's DuPont Chevy coming pedal-to-the-metal around turn four-big revs, big bellowing exhaust, big power, big American noise.

All three sedans have V-8 power. All three, then, are Yankee-inspired, for while America didn't invent the V-8, Detroit (and Henry Ford) certainly popularized it. They made it American shorthand for musclecar.

Originally BMW's M3 used a far more typical European formula for big speed-a high-revving silky sweet Formula 1-based four-cylinder engine. Since then, in the need for speed, four cylinders became six. Now, with the newest M3, six turns into eight. Read Article

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britbox - 11/5/2007 3:49:06 PM

+1 Boost

This is the first article I have read that just about changes my mind to possibly choose the RS4 over the M3. (Interior, steering, exhaust note) being some reason's. To bad it's going out of production and I'll have to wait for the re-test with the new RS4 next year. Geez, at this rate I'll never buy a car!!

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r15mohd - 11/5/2007 3:50:52 PM

+1 Boost

"Verdict time. The oldest car of the bunch, the RS4, is the all-arounder. Comfortable, sure-footed, roomy enough, the best cabin. The composed cruiser. Plus M3 fast. The most poised in slippery conditions. Rain hardly bothers it, not with all four wheels clawing at the road. The Audi also is best at punching its way out of tight bends."

they say the RS4 is the best all-rounded vehicle but in the end still choose the BMW???

isnt a comaprison about which vehicle offers the best thru-out all the tests/review they've gone thru???

biased, definitely...author says it himself, he'd rather have the BMW (typical badge follower)

for an outdated RS4, it's a very very very good stand...kudo's to Audi

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r15mohd - 11/5/2007 4:15:26 PM

+1 Boost

kudos*

Kinger - 11/6/2007 5:25:46 AM

+1 Boost

He chose the BMW because, has he puts it, it has the best handling, the fastest cornering, the most responsive engine, and is the most nimble. Plus, when you're bearing down on the 8400-rpm cutoff, engine yowling like a Formula 1 racer, you know you're in something truly special.

Yonder7 - 11/5/2007 6:30:54 PM

-1 Boost

Well they did the magazine so they can write whateber they want. But what is very funy is that all said that the C63 was to heavy but in fact all the information provided was incomplete. First the C63 engine is 32 pounds lighter than the engine in the M3, second the heaviest car in this bunch was the Audi. M3 in my opinion, Did a good job with all the carbon fiber parts but as I allready said, the engine is not as good as it should for car like that. C63 is did a great job and the advantaje for the lighter car are inertia related. About price, C63 was the cheaper of the three. I feel that C63 have all the wining atributes, however the editor chose M3 which in not bad, just human and he have that right in the same way that Audiphiles preffer Rs4, Thanks God we are always differnt if not, this could be like the old Soviet Union; boring.

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S4cabriofoxone - 11/5/2007 9:00:34 PMView My AgentSpace

+3 Boost

"First the C63 engine is 32 pounds lighter than the engine in the M3, second the heaviest car in this bunch was the Audi."

Where do you get this information? It was plainly stated in the C/D article that the C63 AMG is 220lbs heavier than the RS4. I'm holding the article right in front of me. And it's a ridiculous FOUR HUNDRED SIXTY-THREE POUNDS heavier than the M3!

I love the car (I love all three), but there's no denying it, the baby Benz AMG is overweight. It weighs 300lbs more than a new E350, actually.

And something makes me doubt that a 6.2L V8 weighs less than a 4.0L unit, which BMW touts as weighing the same as their previous straight-six.

Yonder7 - 11/5/2007 6:33:00 PM

-1 Boost

Well they did the magazine so they can write whatever they want. But what is very funy is that all said that the C63 was to heavy but in fact all the information provided was incomplete. First the C63 engine is 32 pounds lighter than the engine in the M3, second the heaviest car in this bunch was the Audi. M3 in my opinion, Did a good job with all the carbon fiber parts but as I allready said, the engine is not as good as it should for car like that. C63 is did a great job and the advantaje for the lighter car are inertia related. About price, C63 was the cheaper of the three. I feel that C63 have all the wining atributes, however the editor chose M3 which in not bad, just human and he have that right in the same way that Audiphiles preffer Rs4, Thanks God we are always differnt if not, this could be like the old Soviet Union; boring.

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Talli - 11/5/2007 8:43:29 PM

+1 Boost

the RS4 is a BOMB!! it looks great compared to the other cars..and its a 2007, not 2008. just WOW!

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carE10 - 11/5/2007 9:44:01 PM

+2 Boost

"But I'll take the BMW. The driver's choice. It has the best handling, the fastest cornering, the most responsive engine, and is the most nimble. Plus, when you're bearing down on the 8400-rpm cutoff, engine yowling like a Formula 1 racer, you know you're in something truly special."

BMW #1

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britbox - 11/5/2007 10:00:07 PM

+2 Boost

It seems the most consistent let down for the M3 is the steering feel and plain interior.

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dayday - 11/5/2007 10:47:24 PM

-1 Boost

all the M3 needs, is a SMG gear box.

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S4cabriofoxone - 11/6/2007 8:18:03 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

That's exactly what it doesn't need.

JUGNU - 11/6/2007 5:20:14 AMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

so the same result as Car and Driver.Not surprising.

JUGNU

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M53R - 11/6/2007 10:25:52 AMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

Choose what you want, you wont regret it.

I ll take an M3.

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golfer38 - 11/6/2007 10:31:51 AMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

I'm very surprised that they didn't submit any instrumented tests, its really kind of a driver's impression article rather than a full out comparison.

As I've already said, all three are great cars, and it would be a very difficult decision trying to choose. However, all things being relatively equal, I would have to choose the fastest, the C63. I really could give a crap what someone else's "interpretation" of what a sports sedan should "feel" like. Give me facts and figures.

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amazinBimmer - 11/6/2007 12:55:08 PM

0 Boost

BMW wins. like always and like it should. I like the benz. no thanks to FWD derived rs4..

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Yonder7 - 11/6/2007 3:57:02 PM

+1 Boost

Dear S4cabriofoxone , When I say that the audi is heavier is because MT say that look the charts. And I agree, the C63 is very heavy due all the amenities that it have also instead of Carbon fiber roof it have metal or glass if you like and there are no CF parts in the body like in the M3, may be that's why MB comes cheaper from the MT info. Regarding the Specific wheight of the cars the info on MT (may they are wrong, but remeber that RS4 have traction on front and rear): http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/112_0712_german_v8_performance_car_comparison/audi_rs4_conclusion.html
Regarding the weight of the engines: The big 6.2 is lighter than the 4.0 of the by 32 Pounds, How? thats the stuf the we call High technology.

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Yonder7 - 11/6/2007 5:23:43 PM

+1 Boost

golfer38 ; Personal perceptions are valid when you are going to buy a car, but I agree with you. In this particular test I will belive in instrumented test only. I will belive only in those numbers due the fact that there are a lot of gray areas.

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GermanNut - 11/6/2007 5:32:34 PM

+1 Boost

I like the Audi RS4 and the Benz.

The Audi provides exhaust notes and looks the M3 can't and the C63 provides the acceleration the M3 can't.

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MunichRob - 11/6/2007 7:52:39 PMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

The RS4 might provide the exhaust notes the M3 can't, the C63 might provide the acceleration both the RS4 & M3 can't, but it can't provide the nimbleness or sheer performance of the Bimmer.

Also I think it's pretty clear the M3 is a much more stylish machine than the undercover RS4, not that I don't love the RS4's look, but to the untrained eye or non-enthusiast, they wouldn't understand the appeal. That is unless you let them drive it, or took em' on the ride of their life.

Now is it fair to say the M3’s king of its class "Nut," Or are you still hanging onto the couple comparisons the RS4 came out on top in?

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S4cabriofoxone - 11/6/2007 8:19:44 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

It is not fair at all to say it's the king of its class. Like it or not, the RS4 HAS won comparisons--mostly European ones. But it's not the best, either. There is no "best" anymore. This is so cliché and I'm very sick of saying it, but it seriously boils down to what YOU personally want. And we know what you want... but I have no idea what I want, so I may not get anything in this class at all. Time will tell.

S4cabriofoxone - 11/6/2007 8:20:42 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

Or I can get all three! LOL!

I wish. If the RS4 Avant was sold here, I'd have that, a C63 AMG sedan and an M3 coupe. Yes, that would be the life...

MunichRob - 11/6/2007 8:51:28 PMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

Yes sir that would be the life, however un-practical it would still feel right. BTW I agree with the cliché, I just have to push "Nut's" buttons...He's like my "amazingbimmer"; you love to hate him.

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amazinBimmer - 11/7/2007 12:59:34 PM

+1 Boost

s4.. wrong again> there is a king of the class. always was since they invented the class and will continue to dominate it. they call it the M3. I call it the ultimate letter.

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