Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Performance Have you raced an M3?

I was on the highway and was weaving through traffic as I usually do. Well I got caught up in the left lane with a 4-door M3 in front of me. Not sure what year it was but I'm assuming it was a slop-box if it was a 4-dr. I waited as he took his good nature time passing a car in the right lane at a wopping 68 mph. So I flip my fog lights on and off to let him know to pick it up and get over. He does no such thing, he keeps rolling at the same speed and stays in the right lane. Finally when I have enough room I merg for the pass. I get in the next lane and he guns it to close my window (some kid about 18 to 20 with moms car) so I slam the SVT down to third and showed his spoiled ass where to go. I cut in front of me and he was all smiles, I gave him the finger and was on my way. I know it wasn't a newer two door with a 5 spd but it was an M3. So that is my story, rich little prick I could have slapped him for driving like an a$$hole.

I prefer to think of the fun to drive (FTD) index. FTD is a combination of acceleration, revability, steering feel/responsiveness, handling, flingability, braking feel/power, cool sounds & hard to quantify "soul".
M3 is the benchmark, the standard to judge by a "10" S4 maybe 9.5.
SVT while slower scores big in many of these areas a solid "9".
Civic Si & Integra score well too even though slower "8.5", Neon sport, 3 series, A4 = 8.0, Maxima 7.5, GTP 7.5 (big thrust points)
Most sedans under 35K would be under 7 on this scale. To me this is what counts most on the street - the way you feel when you strap the thing on. Racetrack is a different story. On this bang for buck meter, SVT kicks ass.

Dan

Seem to have hit a sensitive spot with some of you. I was just curious so I thought I would throw it out there and get every bodies opinion before I went out there and embarrassd myself. I think the SVT is a great car but I know I can't beat everybody but I'll have fun trying. As far as racing a 540i, the guy was pretty inexperienced. That's what usually happens with cars I race. They make stupid mistakes or get scared too easily. Oh well perhaps I should save up for an M3 and when I'm 40 I can look at the young guy next to me thinking he gots what it takes and just laugh, going on my merry way.

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dont assume all 4 door M3s are autos., and dont assume than a BMW with an M3 badge is actually an M3. there are lots of posers with E36 bimmers that buy the M badge and remove there numbers. and not all BMW drivers are rich little pricks...OK, maybe half are. LOL

happy motoring

Eric G.
Walland TN (near Knoxville)
98 BMW M3/4 blk cosmos (with a 5speed)
99 SVT Contour
84 xj Cherokee "the rock crawler."
BMWCCA#188400

I have raced one late model M3 thru the winding country roads (tree-lined) of Vermont, and it was fun...fun...fun. This guy WANTED to race so it went down like this: came up behind him on the way to me playing yet another, round of golf. I flashed him my beams and he lurched forward. When he tucked it in and started accelerating, I downshifted and quickly lost about 2-3 car lengths to him. When the road began to wind a bit, he got cautious and that is when I got right up on his ass, about a car and a half behind. He would hit the straights and take back the gap again (torque). Each time, this cat and mouse game approached a corner, the guy's driving confidence (or lack of) appeared and I got on his ass. Had there been sufficient enough room, I believe in the corners, I would have been able to get on his six and perhaps pass him ever so briefly. On those flats though, he simply had too much torque. I am going to assume he wasn't chipped, so on the high-end (say a race in Nevada), I'd say good-bye. The M3 is a great car and the SVT is perhaps, about 75% as MUCH car but to me...it's as fun to drive as the M3 could ever be to me. Sometimes, pushing the car to its limits is much more fun than driving a car whose limits is significantly beyond that of the driver. A great example....why are go-karts so fun to drive even at my old age (39)? The same principal holds true for automobiles. I miss my R spec Miata. That car was slow as ****, but was as much fun to drive as the law should legally allow. There is a place on the roads of America for all of us...BMW's are great cars because those behind them are passionate about driving. SVT's are great cars because those behind them are just as intensely driven. We just don't have the budget those guys do, but rest assured...if you ever got your hands on a Focus RS, you'll know the Ford guys don't take a back seat to anyone when it comes to knowing how to put the lead in the pencil.

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[b]222hp, 3072-lb '98 Contour SVT


A few $K worth of modifications; others following.

Current GTech performance averages (no dyno/track in my state)
0-60 6.32
1/4 14.62
HP 222
Top Speed 148-152 (indicated)
0-100 16.89 (current average, based on last eight runs)

[This message has been edited by VtMaxx (edited December 16, 2000).]

an m3, funny. i know the 97 m3 has 250 hp, with traction control, if the road is anything but dry, you will just be spinning. they really putyou back in your seat and corner like they are on rails. if you won, it would only be because the driver is a moron, or you have way too many mods. the 2000 m3 has 350 hp, but has a limiting feature (that can be turned off somehow) that limits how much goes to the wheels. you can try, but it wont happen. my buddy dustin has a 97 red m3 in pennsylvania, and it flies. i could never get near it. of course, mine is a 4, and he did go to racing school, but if you see him with very dark tint, he will race, go for it!

All US-spec E36 M3s have 240 HP. Canada was
given a small number of 1994 model 3.0L E36
M3s with euro-spec engines that made 280 HP
but there are less than 40 of them in total.

HP numbers did not change when the switch to
the 3.2L mill occured, only torque increased
on the US-spec model. The euro-spec model was
boosted to 321 HP from the 3.2L upgrade.

The 2001 E46 has 343 HP in Europe and makes
333 HP in US-spec form from the most recent
information I've seen.

T.

I have not raced an m3, however I have raced my friends 1999 Porsche 996 with B&B tri flow exhaust and some fancy intake. His car makes 251 hp on dyno, power loss is approx. 30%> I have yet to dyno my car however we raced on the motorway coming back from go-cart racing. From 80KPH to 230KPH I was right on his butt. To his credit once i shifted into 5th@200KPH he started to pull away, at 255Kph 7,000Rpm 5th I could still see him, however he was most likly going 280KPH or more. What i am getting at is this if you can get an m3 on the motorway you should have a great race untill approx. 200 KPH which will make you feel good, but the reality is that 6 speed cars just have an advantage at real speed. I by the way have Raced an m coupe (z3) and it was side by side untill he hit his limiter, and i kept going. All racing should be done on motorway, since you will lose from a dead stop as fwd is not for drag racing. Kevin 1999 svt KKM intake, full custom exhaust 2 1/4" with Dyno Max ultra flow, h&r springs, 18" and proM

[This message has been edited by Kevin B (edited December 20, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Kevin B (edited December 20, 2000).]

I wrote m3 coupe what I wanted to say was m coupe(z3)

am I wrong, or is everyone here that has actually driven an M3 giving props to the SVT, but saying it is a little down on straightline, and those chest-thumping on the M3 as some big bad supercar are racing magazine times? especially for the new M3 which hasn't even hit our shores yet? (and is rarer than hen's teeth still, even in Germany)
I am in no way trashing the M3, it is a great car, but by no means is it almighty God.