My M3 DCT Test Drive Comments....

aMb said:
Interesting write up. I'm looking to change the E46 M3 for something in a couple of months time and was thinking of the Cayman S or 997 C2S but your write up of the E92 M3 has made me add another to the short list!
Click to expand...

The M3 is superb at everything and better in many ways than the Porsche. But for me the Porsche has two very important things for me and the biggest one is the way it drives and feels, the Cayman and 911 simply feel raw and true driving tools. The second is the 911 especially just looks gorgeous and its rarer/different. :)
 
Pity they don't still make the Noble M12, that sounds right up your street if you want rawness and handling. They are still available on the used market though. Or would it be too far the other way?
 
[TW]Fox;18663407 said:
Err you go to the dealer and talk to them about it :confused:
Click to expand...

This, though I always ring first and arrange it as I find most like notification when your driving something a bit special.
 
Gibbo said:
The problem the M3 has for me is once your past 2nd/3rd gear its acceleration is just far far too refined, it simply does not feel fast, if it was not for speed limits you'd just keep going until you hit the 155mph limiter as the car hides its speed so well which takes away the element of speed, but don't get me wrong the car is accelerating damn fast
Click to expand...

That's almost word for word how I described the older shape M3 a few years back when I was considering trading in the Elise for one. Sure it was fast but it did it so effortlessly and hid the speed so well that it never felt exciting until you were doing 120+. The Elise on the other hand felt exciting at 30mph which reduced the chance of me losing my license.
 
Firestar_3x said:
Good choice imho, going to be interesting to see how you get on next winter :p
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be surprised if a 911 did fine in the snow, assuming the 911 has winter/snow tyres on. All that weight over the back wheels should offer a pretty decent traction advantage.
 
I'm in an E92 M3 right now and absolutely love it. They have sorted out the silly traction control and skittery back end of the E46, and its got an extra slice of power that my 996 was lacking when it came to keeping the pace up against other more capable sports coupes.

Its definately a 'grown up' car with regards to the practicality and feel, but after trying a few track/sports oriented coupe's (Maserati 3200 Asseto Corsa etc) I came to the conclusion that unless i had 3 cars to run depending on my mood at the time, the M3 has the right balance between them all.

8200rpm on that V8 sounds particularly mean also ;)


.... the 911 was utterly useless in the snow BTW. Last year i missed days off work because of it, but this year the E92 did really well surprisingly.
 
Gibbo,

Great read, and a fantastic list of cars.

Firstly, as Fox mentioned in another thread your lucky that pretty much every car your considering is at a minimum considered fantastic, so whatever you chose isn't going to be a lemon.

Personally, knowing what your like behind the wheel and the numerous chats we've had I'd be pushing for a Cayman S. Yes, its not as fast as the others, but its a bloody competant car, and as you said, the feedback sounds like it is fantastic.

The s2000 to me was incredible fun, driving it fast on the track I'll never forget the run in's I had with much 'faster' cars, and the effort and fun I'd get trying to keep pace with them driving at, in many cases, 12/10th's of my ability getting out dripping with sweat but the biggest grin of the two drivers. This is what I'd be wanting from any replacement I get in the future. I cant see you as someone who'd want a back road/track blast, get out and not feel that 'wow' factor...

I'm sure we'll chat at the RR day, but I'm certainly looking forward to your gen2 cayman review :)
 
The 911 is not the best in the snow with the normal summer tyres you get. The tyres are so wide and the compound gets very hard/almost plastic when the temperature drops. Saying that I still used mine most snowy days and only had one close call on 2 days worth of undisturbed snow fall on an incline.
If you get a turbo/c4s with winter tyres I imagine it would be fairly good in the snow.
 
Get a test booked in a Cayman R, I was massively impressed with it

Drove a PDK one and a manal, also a normal and a PCCB one, all were excellent
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom