[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: M3 vs. Corvette -- I need help!!!

Shawn writes >>A friend of mine  . . . who has extremely limited BMW
knowledge, claims that BMWs aren't 'real' cars, and, for instance, could
never keep up with a 'vette (we're not talking ZR1's here).

His lame reasoning is since a 'vette pulls more 'Gs on a skidpad, it can
outhandle and outperform an M3, or any other BMW for that matter. I don't
want to believe that this is true. In my opinion, roadholding is just a
small part of a big picture. I've seen Honda CRXs just eat up 'vettes at
autocrosses. Plus, there's many 'lesser' cars that are faster through a
slalom than a 'vette.

Surely an M3 or an M5 could make a 'vette shudder at the track. Am I right?
Please help! What I need is HARD FACTS. Proof that a FACTORY BMW can in
fact outperform a STOCK Corvette. On the track, in a straight line,
wherever. I just need proof. Race results, articles, etc.<<


Good news and bad news, Shawn. I refer to the August 1996 issue of Road &
Track. Check the Road Test Summary on Page 178, and you can show your buddy
that a 1995 M3 goes 0-60 faster than a 1994 Corvette LT1 (5.4 sec vs 5.7
sec) but slower than a 1996 Corvette Grand Sport. You may also remind him
that the 1996 M3 is .2 faster than the 1995. In the quarter mile, the '95
M3 (14.1 sec) equals the LT1 (14.1 sec, but is slower than the Grand Sport
(13.7 sec). Now if your buddy puts all his eggs in the skidpad basket, he's
out of luck, because the M3 pulls .90g to the Grand Sport's .88g and the
LT1's .89g.

Elsewhere in the same issue, R&T sends the M3 head to head against the
Corvette LT4 and Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 in the Sports Car and GT Coupe
category of the 0-100-0 shootout. Predictably, the M3 uses the most
distance, but that's understandable since it's giving up 90 hp to the Vette
and 80 hp to the 3000GT, and is by far the heaviest of the three in pounds
per horsepower. However, it is the clear winner in dollars per second. But
then, in the overall standings, the Vette was aced out by a Mercedes-Benz
SL600, so does that mean your buddy will have to admit that the MB is a
real car and the Vette isn't?

The biggest problem here is not trying to prove to your friend that BMW's
are legitimate performance cars, it's trying to keep a straight face while
discussing automotive subjects with someone who is obviously an idiot!. Now
don't get me wrong; he's not an idiot because he thinks Vettes are better
than BMW's. He's an idiot because the same logic that he uses to slam
Bimmers can just as easily be used to slam Vettes. Since the Vette can't
hang with a Supra Turbo or a Viper RT/10, the Vette's not a real car.

Too bad we couldn't time-warp this guy back to East Germany 10 years ago,
where the waiting list for a Trabant was a year, and it was every car nut's
dream to someday afford a "real car." That's right, a Wartburg (obsolete
and very poor Fiat made under license) (and yes, "very poor" and Fiat" is
redundant.)