Silver, these rumors are "new and exciting" not the old HP vs Watts vs DIN vs whatever units deal. Do some asking around, since you're expecting, I'd think you might care.

 

RT, bmw only makes one M3 now, a world spec if you will. If you've heard otherwise, you've heard wrong (or I'm screwed ).

 

On my take. I don't think M3 is going to smoke the s2k on the track BAD!! 3400+lb vs 2800+lb. 8000RPM vs. 9000RPM. That is 600 lb difference. When I get mine, I am sure will tell you guys straight comparison. but, I think M3 is going to be a sweet car. because it is a M3.
I think one thing I do not like BMW is the transmittion. After I got my S2K, going back to my BMW is a pain. I can totally agree if anyone classify BMW M3 as a truck compare with S2K.

 

it will depend on the track. if there is a 1/2 or longer straight, the bmw will be going a good bit faster than the S2000.

just look at trap speeds...99mph vs 106mph (a modest number) in the

 

SAE units have gone out of fashion at about the same time as bell bottom trousers... There is still some confusion with japanese manufacturers however, where each "japanese" PS is slightly less than a "ROW" HP.

There is a tendency for european manufacturers to understate their HP. You will find quite frequently cars exceeding their rated HP by up to 10%. A good example are the outstanding TDI engines the VW group is building. Their most recent incarnation of the 1.9 version routinely gets over 150HP on the dyno while it is only rated at 130HP. This is rarely seen, if at all, on Japanese engines.

 

Actually, BMWs are among the best when it comes to structural rigidity. The Z3 chassis is every bit as stiff as the S2000. How do I know? I work in P/T NVH and I work very closely with the Body Modal group. The advantage of the Honda is rigidity/mass of the body-in-white. Actually, the ITR has a stiffer body shell... It's every bit as stiff as the current M3 Coupe: 39 Hz. As an aside I've heard reports of 50 Hz for the Audi TT, but we've not tested one yet.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Chui:
[B]Actually, BMWs are among the best when it comes to structural rigidity. The Z3 chassis is every bit as stiff as the S2000.

 

Yup. Smoked like cheap homegrown weed. The E46 M3 is yummy. I have an E46 323 and while horrifically underpowered it is very sure footed and well balanced. They are different cars. I would have both if I could. The feel of the 323 is obviously very different and I'm sure the M3 version will be very different again.

The new M3 will, with a halfway competent driver, hand you your ass in any and every venue. I'll simply conceed this one.

 

I estimate that at its best, it will run to 60 in about 4.6 and do the 1/4 in 13.0 @ about 110 MPH.
These numbers are for the coupe.
For those of us with less drag racing experience, every 0.1 seconds is equal to about 1 car length on the 1/4. So it will beat an s2k by about 7-10 car lengths. That my friends is a significant distance.


The convertible should be about .5 seconds slower in both categories.

So yes the coupe will smoke us and the convertible will beat us.

I think the coupe will beat us in every single category except braking and slalom.

The s2k will still be able to hang with it though in a tight Solo 2 course, but definately not on a racetrack.

 

frayed=> Illogical, you say 4.8 for the M3 therefor by your logic thats probably at it's best meaning it normally pulls 5.0 to 5.4 second 0-60 which again puts it almost even with the S2000