TiggaMan909

Sorry if this is a repost... pretty interesting article:

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...son/index.html

For the sake of arguing specs, a side by side comparison is available on page 5 of the above article. Couldn't figure out how to insert it into this thread. <--Could use some help here! ;-)

Crazy Bimmer

Interesting how they are all almost identical in the stats.

M3 just edged out on the skidpad and has better gas mileage.

1st Place
BMW M3
Speed, balance, and athleticism converge in today's best compact, high-performance sport sedan.

2nd Place
MERCEDES-BENZ C63 AMG
A solid, emotive machine that works as everyday transport-and accelerates like a first-gen Viper.

3rd Place
LEXUS IS F
Lexus's first effort in this category is a good one, lacking in only the finest of details.

Crazy Bimmer

2.7-mi Road course lap

M3: 2 min, 34.2 sec
C63: 2 min, 38.6 sec
IS0F 2 min, 39.0 sec

If the Drift King.... oh nevermind.

dom

Only .4 seconds but the IS-F had the 38.6.

M3 - $63,625
IS-F - $62,940
C63 - $63,930

For those as tested prices, no question I'd take the M3.

Didn't notice it was the M3 sedan. Nice.

onebadna1nsx

I remember hearing the C63 is a brute! I don't really like any of the styling of these cars though. I really dislike the fronts on all three of these cars for some reason.

FastAcura

Wow, you'd figure the C63 would have a lot more rubber in the rear with all that power.

Never Summer

Without reading the article or looking at the other posts, judging by who did the review (Motor Trend), I'm going to say the BMW won.

majin ssj eric

I think you are thinking of BMW and Driver, er, Car and Driver....

Never Summer

You may be right... either way, the BMW bias of these magazines is incredible, though to be honest I would have taken the M3 given the three choices here, the IS-F being last on my list.

Costco

I think one of those magazines even mentioned how everyone thinks they're paid by BMW in one of those "Dear Magazine" letters. It was pretty funny actually....

srika

M3 ftw!!!!!!!!! lol

fsttyms1

Wow. If the Benz out did it at the track it needs some suspension tuning.

nokiaman

I'm not surprised by the outcome of this. The real opponent to the M3 sedan is the C Benz. The C63 AMG is a complete powerhouse like most amg's but doesn't shine through the twisty stuff,whereas it's too heavy and puts comfort and luxury ahead. As for the IS-F, I'd rather have an IS350

And the M3 looks the best hands down.

majin ssj eric

^^^Agreed. The IS-F is just beyond hideous in its ricer appeal. If Toyota had just plunked the V8 with a 6-speed manual in the IS350 with minor (and tasteful) exterior mods it would have been a star. Everytime I see the stupid (and fake) stacked exhaust, the stupid and absurd (and non-functional) side "gills", and the ridiculous white "carbonfiber" trim I just wanna hurl. It looks like what every kid in SoCal has already done to their IS350's (but even worse)....

SeCsTaC

Exterior = C63 > IS-F > M3

Interior = C63 > M3 > IS-F

Man that carbon fiber looking shit in the IS-F is disgusting, totally makes the cabin look tacky.

Oh and the steering wheel in the C63 looks so damn sexy!

Saintor

Where's Acura? Pffff.

Long life to the King, the real one.

nokiaman

You better own an M5 later in this life of yours, to truly feel who is the king :wink:

srika

out did what? I'm not surprised the Benz beat the IS. It's not a bad handler contrary to popular belief and that engine is godlike. That helps.

cltypeSLOW

c63 interior is

Maximized

This doesn't suprise me. The C63 is a really tough car to drive fast. It's under-tired and loves to oversteer. There was a cool video of Tiff driving the C63 a while back.

This test shows that AMG is getting closer to matching the "M" package. BMW is still king, but others are getting closer.

mattg

srika

^^ one of the best pics of the car Ive seen... boy that looks good... not anywhere near $100k good tho... 60ish.. .

mattg

thanks man. I took it on Friday night. hand held w/ the camera on no flash mode.

I was about to drive it but it started to snow so the test drives had to come to an end. I did test drive this dark blue sedan yesterday though.

srika

I was doing some serious double-takes.. thought you meant it was your car.. hehe.. I was gonna be like dannnnggg son... very nice shot. What did you think of it upclose and personal? Did your opinion of it change at all? If so how. Sedan looks nice too but I get the feeling this car needs to be in white for the best effect.. maybe it's because you can see the curves and flares so well in white and hardly at all - I think that's a big factor for the look of this car.

mattg

nope, not mine.

The white coupe is the sickness. I would definitely go in that direction if I was in the market for an M3. coupe for sure.

The interiors aren't real flashy. The steering wheel and seats are to die for. The sedan had all black interior with carbon fiber looking leather trim. I had never seen leather like that before. The sound system was nice, and the engine sound is beautiful, although a little more subdued than I would like.

The clutch is freakishly light. It feels like it's not even attached to a cable, more like it's an e-clutch or something. The gearbox was nice. I would need more time to really get a feel for the clutch and gearbox, they feel less direct than the same in my subie.

It's weird driving a car like this with such a long powerband. It wasn't as fast as I was expecting, although I didn't flog it too hard since it only had 110 miles on it. Midrange power definitely felt like less than my subie, although the power delivery is so smooth that I think the M3 may be sneaky fast. I also figure once the M3 was broken in and you could bring it all the way up to (and past ) 8000 rpms it would really start to shine. overall it wasn't as quick as I was expecting, especially down low and in the mid range where my subie shines. The 335xi auto sedan actually felt like it had as much power and TQ down low and in the mid range.

The handling was great. very glued to the road and I could tell the brakes are incredible, even though I didn't have a chance to really try them out. Steering is pretty light, a little too light for my taste, but I'm sure it's something that you would get used to.

Build quality, interior quality and paint quality were all superb to me (Subaru driver), although it would be nice to have a suede or alcantara headliner in a 70K automobile.

Overall, I think it would be tough to take the M3 over other comparable cars that I'm guessing are brutally quick and fast, aka Corvette & GT-R. The M3 just didn't push me back in the seat like I though it would.

Crazy Bimmer

^ Just throw on the Eisenmann Exhaust

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QkP3nuNzO40&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QkP3nuNzO40&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Patrick BMW has a white M3 coupe and is selling for sticker. Guess theres not a HUGE demand yet?

mattg

some doctor bought the white coupe the night of the unveiling. sticker on the sedan was $70,300 I believe. I'm guessing the coupe was around the same.

phil2

Interesting results..

Crazy Bimmer

Oh that wasnt an eisenmann exhaust I posted. My bad.

Donte99TL

God, I wish I could have this car. I like the coupe, but with having a kid the four door just make sense.

JediMindTricks

the sedan is looking better each time i see it.

i think having the coupe's headlights helps a lot. (still wish it had the coupe's rear too)

in terms of looks, i'd take the M3 over the C63 and IS-F too.

Costco

Love that sound.... but whats up with that girly shifting?

I still think the M3 is the best looking, in and out, not to mention it would probably be the funnest to drive, AND it comes in stick. That pretty much seals the deal for me.

cusdaddy

I absolutely love the M3. It's been a long search for my next car, but this car is finallyit.

I'll be picking my up the M3 in the fall after the lease expires on my current car. The only issue is that I love the M3 in white, but my soon to be wife hates that color so it looks like I'll be going with the Graphite metallic color

JediMindTricks

^coupe or sedan?

too bad you can't get the white. it's the best looking color in my opinion.

Saintor

The sound of it is addictive. It can look weird, but some are getting similar sounds with muffler removal instead of fancy exhausts. Plenty of examples on youtube (try 'muffler delete e90')

cltypeSLOW

the sedan is drop dead gorgeous.

cusdaddy

Coupe. Not being able to get white is killing me. I still didn't officially place the order (I'm on a waiting list) so I have time to try to convince her

rifleman-cl

The white coupe is drop dead gorgeous...since i got the low end version sedan, I'll take the rims on the M3 sedan instead

Crazy Bimmer

My buddy just bought a white M3 coupe. Going to drive it this weekend

Maybe I shouldnt...

shooter

+1 for M3 ... either coupe or sedan ....