xxlbeerZ

iTrader: (8)

I canceled my C&D subscription some time ago. Their magazine sucks.

Demon Z

iTrader: (1)

I have that issue of C&D, and I remember saying out loud, "WHAT THE FUUUUCK?!?!?!?!"

zland

This is no shock really. It seems like most mags have a love affair with BMW. If you guys remember apporximately 20 years ago, they use to bash mainly American cars for poor performance specs. Then, when the Japanese & American cars started matching or exceeding the performance euro specs of cars like BMW, they claimed it was driving feel that made them superior. Now, even with much better performance specs, the BMW's still win these comparisions.

I think every magazine should have to post what cars the testers personally own and it would be nice if they posted the amount each car magazine spent in advertisement. My bet is more testers own G35's then 3 series BMW's etc. because they got to buy the car that is the best value for the dollar. The truth be known, many most likely own neither and are more likely to own a 2000 Civic and their wife drives a 2006 dodge minivan.

People that advertise in those magazines are not happy when a magazine slams their product. It appears to me that it is a win-win situation for the writers of C& D to show the Nissan out perform the BMW by specs while stating how nice the BMW feels to drive. In that way, the magazine saves face with both Nissan & BMW thus making both advertisers happy.

I could be wrong about this, just my 2 cents....

AroundMyHorn

iTrader: (9)

I would have no problem owning either one of them.

skaterbasist

iTrader: (3)

LOL! Since when has a turbo'd car with an ECU modification been anywhere near stock.

The "only" modification is a huge understatement for a turbo'd car, as that can give any boosted car massive power upgrades.

.

tranceformer95

iTrader: (20)

If I remember right, that's what was the winning factor for the 3-series vs. the 07 G35 sedan.

Demon Z

iTrader: (1)

You are probably not too far off. You don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Fluid1

iTrader: (19)

And you obviously don't have a clue why.

DrVolkl

C&D sucks BMW's d*** on a regular basis. I could have told you the result long before reading the article.

It's getting pretty silly these days.

Bottom line: Those three cars are different enough that a magazine wouldn't sway my opinion. The M3 isn't even in the same league...at some point either you want AWD or you don't.

Back seat comfort? I mean, really? There's points for that ****? I guess that means the M3 4 door would score even HIGHER!

Divergent13

BMW does it again. Could we expect anything less from such a superior car company?

itsjiggajames

iTrader: (5)

m3's are f*ckin nice.. without a doubt.. i love bmw.. and lets not compare the GTR just for us nissan biased people...

but M3 > 911 Turbo????!

Scoring shouldve been reversed if anything..
1- 911
2- GTR
3- M3

Fail...

michaeljr6

iTrader: (14)

+10000000000

areddy

Actually it should be GT-R, Turbo, M3. The GT-R is by far a better performing car than the 911 Turbo.

Augustus

The GTR is a great car but speed isn't everything. Fact is, C&D just found the M3 to be a better all-around car than the GTR. Even if you take away the whole portion that scores the interior, comfort, and fit-and-finish, the BMW still wins on ride quality and being funner to drive. I was honestly surprised that the 911 was that far behind in the scoring more than the fact that the M3 beat the GTR. I suppose being nearly double the price and having a tiny interior doesn't win comparison tests.

One stat that really popped out at me was the 30-50 acceleration. The M3 was 2 seconds faster than the GTR with a 7.7 second time. The 911 had a 9.0 second time. The M3 was also 0.1 seconds faster from 50-70. Granted all of this is top gear acceleration, and who's in 6th when trying to accelerate from 30 or 50?

I don't doubt that these magazines have their bias, but BMW has proven to be consistent at putting great cars on the road. Nissan is still catching up in that regard and if the GTR is any indication, they're catching up fast.

Motormouth

iTrader: (44)

which is why I like Topgear

Motormouth

iTrader: (44)

(terrible post)

but other than that comment I felt the need to make, if you squint hard you can see that the M3 is gear limited to 160 while the Porsche and GTR are both electronically limited to 189 and 190 (or thereabouts). the NA instant hit and much higher gearing obviously gave it the advantage there.

I wonder what cruising speeds are in those cars @ 60mph.

and honestly, from everything I have seen on the M3, BMW lost it with this model (and it's ugly as sin).

skaterbasist

iTrader: (3)

Here you go again. It's not all about performance. I love the GTR, but I'd take the 911 Turbo over the GTR.

.

TriX

serious? i don't care much about the gtr but i thought there was a vid of a stock running 11.5 or something like that. the halthech ran 11.1 i believe.

Augustus

If you didn't have to squint, which I don't since I have the magazine in front of me, you'd see that the M3 is limited to 160 by a governor, while the GTR and 911 are redline limited to 191 and 185 respectively. The M3 should redline at about 187 mph in 6th.

The top gear acceleration times are likely due to the fact that turbo cars aren't making great power when in 6th gear at 30 mph.

RPMs @ 60mph for each car are probably around 2650 for the M3, 2200 for the GTR, and 2150 for the 911, based on the MPH/1000rpm chart on page 62.

I agree the the M3 has been going in the wrong direction for most of us, but it's probably working out for BMW. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they sold more E36s than E30s, more E46s than E36s, and that they'll sell more E92s than E46s.

BlueZ Brother

All three cars pretty much have their own strengths and weaknesses, not to mention different personalities entirely to me, so IMO it would be a matter of personal preference. Given the choice I'd take the GTR or the M3.