Sunday, September 5, 2010

BMW M3: 420 hp V8 embarrassed by 287 hp V4.

Every teenager dreams about one of these two cars, but not every one of them gets to drive them (except only on Playstation), and what's worse, not everyone of them knows the truth behind these cars. All they know is that both of them are fast. Well, today I will
change their point of view. On one side of the ring we have Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 MR. It does 0-60 in just 4.5 seconds, has a 287 horsepower turbocharged 4-cylinder MIVEC capable of 289 lb-ft of torque with 6 speed manual transmission. It's the WRC king, it's the true Japanese Samurai, ready to attack at any time.



On the other side of the ring we have BMW M3. It has 8-cylinder naturally aspirated M-Sports engine with 420 hp capable of 300 lb-ft of torque that comes with 6 speed manual or 7 speed M-DCT. It does 0-60 in 4.4-5.1 seconds, and it has a top speed 155 mph limited, just like the Evo. Unlike the Evo, it's RWD, it doesn't have a turbo, and it's heavier. It might look nice, but it's not worth that 55k that BMW sells it for. It doesn't handle as well as the Evo. It does 0.98 Gs on the skidpad, where Evo does 0.99 Gs. Obviously it's not faster on the track, but it might be a little bit faster on the straight line, but still, on the 1/4 mile Evo does it in 13.3 seconds @ 103 mph, where M3 does it in 13.5 seconds @ 104 mph. So where does that extra $20k go? Definitely not the speed, nor the handling. It can be only one thing- the name. I've asked couple people, they said that M3 is the perfect choice, even after explaining that Evo is faster. Why? Because it has more "luxury". Think again. Evo might look cheap on the camera, but in reality, it feels much better. It has the same option as M3 to add the carbon fiber pattern cloth, to make it look nicer. And the recaro seats with red stitching? What else do you need? M3's seats feel like fake leather, they feel more like vinyl. After all, if it's fast, why do you even need such stuff? Fast cars are not suppose to be over loaded, and that's why, M3 is not better than Evo. It's not faster, it doesn't handle better, and it's not as HQ as people thought it is.

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