[Malek@MRF]

Originally Posted by m3evobr

Hi Malek,

1) Solid mount rear axle - Used a lot before than 13 years ago on Porsches and they incorporate that in their production cars on the RS models (964) in the early 90s.


2) I'm with you with the massive power, but regardless, the E90/2 felt underpowered, and underwhelming maybe due to the lack of torque, maybe due to it's high weight, but really liked the nature of the engine for sure.

3) Cars getting better, is really subjective, and I believe that better has a lot to do with feeling and emotion as well as it has with build quality, performance, durability etc. I personally didn't buy a 'modern' M car just because they no longer could deliver that. This being the biggest reason why a lot of the guys on Porsche forums (rennlist) are bailing out on the 991.
I personally drove one and while it has much improved interior if compared to the 997, the car is bigger, (feels big) the steering wheel feeling just sucks if compared to 997 and the list goes on and on.... is it a bad car ??? No, by any means, and maybe a great car for those that never had Porsches before.
Same thing happened with M cars, but hopefully they are getting back on track.

6) Agreed with Mercedes and Audi, which this second I don't even see as a threat as they just dont drive well IMO. M3 GTS gave GT3RS a run for their $$$ ?
Well if you consider a gap of 15 seconds comparing the 3.8 RS vs GTS a run for their money, I would say that's not quite accurate.
Now only 2 seconds faster than a CSL ?
Thank you, I'll take the CSL any day of the week. 2 Seconds at the ring could be just weather difference, so going back to the previous topic, I would take a lighter and less powerful car in the name of feel and handling any day.

Not sure where the 15 second gap is coming from. The E92 M3 GTS did the Nordschleife in 7:48 and the 997 GT3 RS 3.8 did it in 7:43. That's a 5 second difference, and yes that is giving the GT3-RS a run for it's money.

As much as I love the E46 M3 CSL, it's looks, its design philosophy and what it stands for, the fact that it is equipped with an SMG II makes it inferior. The M-DCT is a marvel of technology which rivals some of the best dual clutch gear boxes out there to date.

1) This may apply to Porsche's, however this does not apply to BMW vehicles until recently. The most recent M vehicles to get the unitized rear subframe are the M3 GTS, CRT, F10 M5 and F13/F12 M6.

2) The E92 M3 is not underpowered. It has a high revving nature and needs to be wound up to really appreciate its power delivery. A stock 335 feels faster on the street often times than an S65 powered M3 does. What the speed feels like is irrelevant, the E92 was a fast car. Fast or slow, the delivery of the engine was to die for.

3) The E92 M3 was a great M car. It feels connected with the driver. Yes it got heavier in comparison to the E46, but it also got better. It performed better in every way imaginable. The E46 carries over methodologies from the E30 days. It practically employs the same front suspension lay out from an E30 with a massive camber roll off which required exxagerated amounts of negative camber to maintain front end grip and the rear end was adopted from an E36 M3 for the most part. Unfortunately the E46 was plagued with an SMG. The 6MT was a much better variant.

The E9x platform changed the entire suspension lay out front & rear with respect to previous generations. For those of us who know the ins and outs of the current model, the underpinnings are nearly identical to the E9x M3 on the F8x model. They improved on things that should have been done previously and what some of us have been preaching for a while.

Examples:

Rear lower trailing arm is no longer a stamped steel unit with soft rubber bushings. It is evident it is a forged Al arm like the rest of the links in the rear with spherical bearings as bushings. As mentioned previously as well, the unitized subframe.

The 991 despite how it feels (yes I have lots of seat time in this car and the 997), is better than the 997. Its larger, wider, longer, but lighter and more balanced. The base 997 was awesome, but also twitchy. The brand new GT3 is awesome, and one of the most exciting cars of the year, even if it's not offered in 6MT and they ditched the Metzger.

6) Not sure where the 15 second gap is coming from. The E92 M3 GTS did the Nordschleife in 7:48 and the 997 GT3 RS 3.8 did it in 7:43. That's a 5 second difference, and yes that is giving the GT3-RS a run for it's money.

As much as I love the E46 M3 CSL, it's looks, its design philosophy and what it stands for, the fact that it is equipped with an SMG II makes it inferior. The M-DCT is a marvel of technology which rivals some of the best dual clutch gear boxes in production vehicles out there to date.