2010 BMW M3 CSL Rendering

huh? The new M3 is MUCH faster than the previous one.

Old New
0-60 4.8s 4.1s
1/4 mile 13.3s 12.5s

It also brakes better (it briefly held the Edmunds.com record for shortest 60-0 distance), handles MUCH better (0.98g skidpad, 72.9mph slalom), and the power is more usable (i.e. you don't have to drive it like to you stole it, it's just fast no matter what you're doing). It's even more comfortable to boot.

— JRobUSC (View Profile)

Posted on 6/27/2008 11:32:59 AM | | Votes: 2   

"The M3 is more of a direct competitor to the RS4 which is a notch below the IS-F and C63 because of the difference in size of their V8..."

So in your world, the car with the biggest engine is "above" all the cars with smaller engines. Where's my calendar, is it 1965 again? Ferrari's and Porsche's don't have the biggest engines, but they get the job done just fine. A Charger has a 6.1L Hemi -- is that "above" the M3 and IS-F too?

Come join us in the new millenium, my friend, there have been lots of advancements in engine technology and there's more than one way to make a car fast. Shoehorning the biggest engine you can fit under the hood might be great for drag racing but it's not necessarily the best all around solution. Because BMW engineered a sizeable weight savings into that M3, for example, it's only a hair slower in acceleration than that monster engined C63, but outbrakes it, outhandles it, and is faster on both a track and a road course even with its "tiny" 4.0L. The IS-F loses not just on the track, braking, and handling fronts, but in acceleration tests as well, bigger engine and all.

— JRobUSC (View Profile)

Posted on 6/27/2008 11:56:53 AM | | Votes: 5   

JRobUSC, you never heard of the classical term "There's no replacement for displacement"?

— lenkun (View Profile)

Posted on 6/27/2008 1:05:46 PM | | Votes: -3   

...and why do you think Viper and Corvette ZR1 are 7.0 and 8.3L in displacement and those are modern sports car.

— lenkun (View Profile)

Posted on 6/27/2008 1:07:21 PM | | Votes: -1   

lenkun, yes I have heard "there's no replacement for displacement". I heard it a lot back in the 90's when I used to drag race my Mustang, Frankly it's a remnant of 1960's mentality, and nowadays that statement SHOULD go "for people who don't want to spend the money to design a better, more advanced engine... there's no replacement for displacement". BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, Ferrari, etc. all choose to spend the money to design those more advanced engines.

Be honest -- how much power do you think BMW or Porsche would get out of a 7.0L engine like the Z06 or an 8.4L engine like the Viper? Porsche has 415hp out of a 3.6L six cylinder for crying out loud. BMW had 627hp out of a 6.1L V12 THIRTEEN YEARS AGO.

So yeah, there's no replacement for displacement... except technology. Making the engine bigger is the cheap and easy way to make it more powerful, but you do it at the expense of other aspects of the driving characteristics. Creating an all-around package is where the big bucks are spent on engineering, and BMW, Audi, Porsche, Ferrari, etc. know what they're doing there.

— JRobUSC (View Profile)

Posted on 6/27/2008 2:27:12 PM | | Votes: 5   

lenkun - are you that brainwashed? Maybe you havent heard but the Lexus IS-F has NOT beaten the 2008 M3 in any comparison test. It is not faster, doesnt brake as well, doesnt handle as well & is smaller with less mass. you kill me

— BMW4me4ever (View Profile)

Posted on 6/27/2008 4:07:15 PM | | Votes: 3   

the 0-60 time was from the March and May 2008 issues of Car & Driver. The other times/distances/stats are sourced from wherever I found the best figures for both cars.

— JRobUSC (View Profile)

Posted on 6/27/2008 12:23:55 PM | | Votes: 1   

vantage - which magazine you want to look at? Car & Driver May 2008 ... M3 vs IS-F ... M3 0 to 60 4.1 vs
ISF 0 to 60 4.4 ... 1/4 miles 12.6 for M3 vs 12.8 IS-F .. BMW won ... doesnt anyone read anymore or do they just spout of stuff just to say something?

— BMW4me4ever (View Profile)

Posted on 6/27/2008 4:11:21 PM | | Votes: 3   

wow BMW funs are explosing.

— EL44 (View Profile)

Posted on 6/27/2008 5:53:37 PM | | Votes: 1