Doubt it. Back in the day, my 5.0L ripped a new a$$hole in many an E36 M3 that stepped up. One word for you: OVERHYPED!
That car's junk, bud. The only thing going for it is resale because people believe in the BMW name. Bah... Some SRT-4's are putting down a 13.9 quarter. That will absolutely smoke an E36 M3, just as my old 5.0 did, with 1979 technology. BIG DEAL! Come to think of it... that little turbo POS will even beat most 5.0L's with light mods...
It's OK to give props where due. Dodge did a *really* good thing here... yeah, it's a neon, but it's hella fast, and largely revised. If you have an older M3, maybe you'll get lucky and Dodge's turbo 2.4L will bolt right in???
Massiv.
Sorry, can let this go..the E36 is JUNK??? It is not a rocket, but it was when made the fastest sedan available at its price..Ran about 14.1@98MPH, so it was a bit slower than this turbo Neon but "smoked" is not the word I would use.
But the cars REAL claim to faim was exceptional handling & telepathic contols. By handling I do not mean the .86g or so on a skidpad (good but not better than an SVT). I mean it HANDLED. Ever drive one..its the benchmark, period. E36 even better than E46 which understeers more and has too ligh steering. The E36 "senses" the road and your next command. It would destroy most any car on a winding mountain road where confidence is more valuable than power or absolute gs pulled. The E36 won the best handling comparo in 1998 or so. In a series of objective tests/road/track courses (MUCH more than more than just steady state gs or lane change speed) it defeated EVERY othe CAR. Ferrari, Acura NSX, Porsche, everything at 1/2 the price and twice the seats!!!
M3 is the holy grail sedan of auto enthusiests.. Far as I'm concerned it still is despite biturbo Audis & S/C Benzes that are much faster but weigh 600 lbs more and handle "relatively" like crap. Hmmmm, sounds like the CSVT vs SRT4 comparo..
1999 Amazon Green SVT Contour (#554/2760)
"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."
-Soren Kierkegaard (as posted by Jato)
