Evo M3 review
07-23-2007, 07:34 AM
#1
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
Evo M3 review
RS6.com has a few quotes from Evo about the M3 and the RS4.
It looks as if the Evo reviewer was fairly balanced. IMO if the car is so close to the RS4 that reviews can either go one way or the other, then BMW has missed the mark.<ul><li><a href="http://www2.rs6.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12579">Evo M3 quotes</a></li></ul>
It looks as if the Evo reviewer was fairly balanced. IMO if the car is so close to the RS4 that reviews can either go one way or the other, then BMW has missed the mark.<ul><li><a href="http://www2.rs6.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12579">Evo M3 quotes</a></li></ul>
07-23-2007, 09:51 AM
#2
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
An additional thought
When the RS4 was reviewed last year, it certainly had good reviews. But, there was the looming comparison to the M3 V8 that always seemed to dampen enthusiasm in the automotive trade mag industry.
If you read the new M3 articles, the first thing that becomes clear is that the tide has turned. Audi was always being compared to BMW and then getting smoked on the next release of a new BMW model. Now BMW is being compared to Audi, and the RS4 is now the benchmark. In fact, it seems that in comparison the RS4 is looking even better to quite a few reviewers.
In previous reviews the stock line was: "The RS4 is a good car, but wait until the new M3 comes out and we'll see."
Now the reviews have lines like this: "... the RS4 takes it, often only by the narrowest of margins. But by a clear margin nonetheless."
"Ths story doesn't end there, however. In fact, the final chapter is far from written. Becasue we know that BMW is already working on a harder, faster M3....It's called the CSL."
Damn, I hope Audi hammers it to BMW with the RS6 and then follows with an RS5 knockout, around the same time that BMW releases the CSL.
If you read the new M3 articles, the first thing that becomes clear is that the tide has turned. Audi was always being compared to BMW and then getting smoked on the next release of a new BMW model. Now BMW is being compared to Audi, and the RS4 is now the benchmark. In fact, it seems that in comparison the RS4 is looking even better to quite a few reviewers.
In previous reviews the stock line was: "The RS4 is a good car, but wait until the new M3 comes out and we'll see."
Now the reviews have lines like this: "... the RS4 takes it, often only by the narrowest of margins. But by a clear margin nonetheless."
"Ths story doesn't end there, however. In fact, the final chapter is far from written. Becasue we know that BMW is already working on a harder, faster M3....It's called the CSL."
Damn, I hope Audi hammers it to BMW with the RS6 and then follows with an RS5 knockout, around the same time that BMW releases the CSL.
07-23-2007, 10:04 AM
#4
AudiWorld Super User
Agree. It's simply because Audi has set the bar so high with the RS4 that...
anything the M division could possibly make to top it would unfortunately detract from the everyday driveability of the car. Face it, if we had a more raw and even better handling RS4, it would be at the expense of ride quality and overall user-friendliness with regards to street driving duties. It's not easy to make everyone happy but BMW tried to do just that with the new M3 and what they came up with as a result is a compromise. It's a compromise that barely edges out the RS4 in terms of raw performance but then also follows in RS4's footsteps in terms of driveability and off-track behavior, which when compared to the E46 M3 seems dull to some people. Perhaps BMW will eventually make a CSL version that will make the new M3 'perfect' but as for the version that's due to arrive here first, I feel that BMW did the 'right thing'. In the end, the true enthusiasts are the minority and their sales volume is the priority.
07-23-2007, 10:37 AM
#7
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
And then there are reviewers that drink the coolaid
Even though Autocar picks the RS4, they have this to say about the engines:
"The one area in which the M3 gets its own back on the RS4 is over the final 2500 rpm, during that last commited push towards the rev limiter. In the Audi this is set at 8250 rpm; in the M3 you'll reach 8400 rpm before the limiter calls time. <B>It's the difference between an exceptionally good V8 engine and one of the all-time greats.</B>"
When you look at the two engines, very few differences actually pop out. Yet, somehow M-marketing seems to have trumped "Truth in Engineering."
"The one area in which the M3 gets its own back on the RS4 is over the final 2500 rpm, during that last commited push towards the rev limiter. In the Audi this is set at 8250 rpm; in the M3 you'll reach 8400 rpm before the limiter calls time. <B>It's the difference between an exceptionally good V8 engine and one of the all-time greats.</B>"
When you look at the two engines, very few differences actually pop out. Yet, somehow M-marketing seems to have trumped "Truth in Engineering."
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07-23-2007, 11:19 AM
#10
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
Re: wow that us an absurd statement
Yep, everyone takes the BMW marketing hook line and sinker. I've heard these incredible exclamations of how this engine is 30 lbs lighter then the old M3 straight-6, which is one of BMW's huge marketing claims. It sounds impressive, until you realize that the old engine had a cast iron block and the new engine has an aluminum block. Then it becomes even less impressive when you see that the block technology is no different than Audi has been using for years, as has BMW in other models.