I hadn't done too much research on the blow engine issue. It certainly isn't an epidemic with ~120 cases, but it also doesn't inspire confidence in the car.

Regardless, all of the blow engines were within warranty, so as far as I'm concerned it's a wash. Let me drive the **** out of the car, blow the engine, then get a new one. I'll do that till the cows come home, but you're right, not for $55K!

On a side note, I find myself wishing the Evo was RWD. The AWD and the difficulty launching w/o abusing the clutch are holding me back. I'm sure I'll end up biting the bullet, but it's just hard to give up that german feel. Go test drive any 3 series to see what I mean.

 

Have you ever driven an AWD car?.. your wish to have an EVO with RWD sways me to think you haven't...

Trust me on this one.. If you buy a car and the engine blows it doesn't matter if it's covered 5 times under warantee, you're gonna feel crappy about your new cars weakspot, crappy's gonna create doubt and very soon you're gonna want another car!.. Especially if you have those kinda bucks.. You will tire of that feeling quickly!..

 

and if pigs flew, you wouldn't worry about bird droppings as much!

"nicely equipped"... I guess that included the fancy propeller emblem!
I could probably get a few of those for the extra $25k!!!

Go ahead and flame...

 

An M3 is a great sports car. Not the cheapest but it does not skimp on ammenities either. It's THE benchmark for a lot of other cars and it deserves it's respect. BMWs are built like tanks but so are other cars and every engine that is driven hard is bound to blow. S2000 engines blow. Camaro/Corvette engines blow. Eclipse engines blow. Recognize, analyze, and realize that it's bound to happen to any engine that's driven hard. Period.

I have loved the Lancer since I first read about it about 6 years ago and although it is no slouch, it is not in the same class as the M3. The M3 is more of a luxury sports coupe[ ], albeit with more sports than luxury, while the Evo is more of a "bang for your buck-focused-grassroots-get the job done sans luxury car."

Comparing performance numbers for each is ok but saying that one is better than the other is all subjective.

I say we all just get back to the subject. I'll start.

My previous posts were assuming the DSC was turned off. The best performance numbers recorded to date were those with traction control shut off. Fact is that when you drive a BMW with this option, you can feel it kick in and for a split second slow the car/engine. Granted it doesn't slow it too much, just enough to stop the wheels from slipping, but that does equate to slower performance numbers. In fact, I believe it was Motor Trend (about a year ago) that reported that when testing an M5 with traction control on, their numbers slowed by anywhere from .5 secs. to almost a full second.

As far as the creator of this thread beating his kid cousin from the launch with his Evo was because I was assuming that he would launch it as hard as possible. This is because, as it has been posted here and written in magazines, you can't baby the car or you will come up short. AWD cars have to be abused in order to attain good performance scores. Motor Trend's test driver for their top speed test recorded that he had to launch at 5000 RPM and if I am not mistaken, modulating the clutch was also required.

Assuming all this is true, if he launches hard as possible without launching too hard as to hurt his performance, he should beat the M3 if his cousin turns off DSC and stomps the gas pedal.

I put my money on the older driver in the Evo. What do you guys think?

Also, can we see some video?

 

The engines that are blowing are not going from being driven hard, and even if they were, thats what REV limiters are for.. BMW's are only perceived as benchmarks, they are not actually.. It's the Matrix.. It's not real.. The M3 blows(get it) and it's just that simple..

 

Yes I have driven AWD, and I see no need for them on public streets. Even at the track, a AWD car will be trounced by a RWD car of the same power. There is really no need for AWD unless you live in SNOW COUNTRY or you are going to rally the car. I can tell you right now that a very low percentage of Evo's will ever see a rally stage, so why do we need AWD? I live in Connecticut, and I can get around just fine with a RWD car in our winter snow, even without snow tires. We've see how it helps wet handling by the Evo's that have met their early demise into guard rails. AWD is merely extra weight in the front, making cars understeer, brake longer (OK, the Evo has no problems in the department, but generally speaking) and have problems launching without a course in clutch abuse.

I may buy an Evo (or maybe even an STi) for the power and bang for the buck factor, but the AWD is the one thing that I could do without.

I know everyone wants to think they are on the WRC circuit when they drive their Evo, but the truth is that most would be much better served with this same car in a RWD configuration.

Please, if someone has an intelligent argument for why AWD is better on dry tarmac, let me know.

 

AWD is better for acceleration. no chirpy slippy RWD... While you are turning.. the front wheels are helping pull you through the turn instead of all the power being in the rear. If you want to slingshot your way through a corner it's no prob even if the *** end breaks loose, then it'll immediately hook back up again with power. And then of course there's the weather which isn't limited to only the moutains or snow..

It's RAIN dear and it sucks when you have a rear wheel drive car in the RAIN... you spin at lights with just a little power, and if you start to spin or slide you have no front wheel power to pull you out of it.. And you always have to drive around being carefull all the time not to do the wrong thing in rain or shine with rear wheel drive.. **** .. try a circlular onramp to the freeway with rearwheel drive in the RAIN, it's a *****..

Rear wheel drive sucks.. and my IS300 is gonna get traded in for an EVO because of it!.. **** my car's rear wheel drive lack of traction annoys me even when it's dry out!

Quote of the year:
(I miss all wheel drive bro..)

BTW You like Nitrous?: see my stealthed out setup before i trade my car..
http://www.clubxm.com/carpics/carpics.html

 

120 out of how many? We are not talking civics here that sell 34K per month.

Also many were denied warrantee coverage.

 

Sorry brads, but you are absolutely dead wrong about dry weather handling. In a RWD car, you're front wheels are free to turn the car, and you don't have the inside wheel pushing you through the turn (understeer). In a AWD car, you've got the same sh*t going on that you do in a FWD car, namely the power to the front wheels which is pushing you towards the outside of the corner.

If RWD is such a poor setup for handling, why are ALL of the best handling cars in the world RWD? Porche, BMW, all exotics, pro race cars, etc, etc, etc. Maybe it's easier to name all of the worlds best handling cars which are NOT RWD...here goes...

...ok then.

 

Maybe you need to talk to Michael Galati, or maybe Randy Pobst...
they could probably tell you why their Audi's regularly stomp on RWD Corvettes, Porsches, and BMW's. I guess all those wins, even with weight penalties, and also a Speedvision WC GT championship may provide the intelligent arguement that you require.

 

When I see Roy Disney pull into work in his ferarri all I see is a man that can't shift worth a damn and ends up redlining that poor car to death.. I dont see a high performance car I see a low performance car..

You can keep those exotic cars with all their quirks, attitudes and handling antics for the professional drivers..

for you and me on the street....AWD baby!... without a doubt!
I no longer want some rear wheel drive car thats gonna end up spun in a ditch sometime in the future.. I want a car I can push to the handling edge like my old VR4 but without the weight!

 

I love M3, I'm very into BMW's especially M3 & M5...
but an M3 bought by DADDY and driven by a 19yr old....

he's just probably gonna follow ur tail all the way..

can he even handle a stick??
better not, 'cuz he might not even know how to make that machine move...

 

AWD exotics and others with world-class handling:

Lamborghini Diablo
Lamborghini Murcielago
Nissan Skyline GTR
Porsche 911
Porsche Cayenne Turbo (matching the M3 around a course is impressive)

 

Ok, I own both an E46 M3 and an EVO. Both, in my opinion are awesome cars in there own way. I have a couple of mods on my M3 and i can tell you it is pretty damn quick. Although i do agree that the EVO outhandles the M3, trust me it does, the M3 is slightly quicker than my EVO. The M3 has been known to blow motors but as was previous posted, the problem is isolated to a certain range of vins. They are soon to be recalling these cars and replacing the faulty parts.
I guess, the point i am getting at is that both cars are great, the M3 is a luxury sports car, while the EVO is just plain sports car. I am a auto nut, I don't diss other cars to make myself feel better about myself, in my opionion you have to respect a well engineered car when you see one.

 

Watch him just leave DSC on, have the SMG set to S1 and smoke the EVO....haha. Good luck-- M3's are nothing to laugh about...

get a vid while your at it too...and use some high octane... and some "NOSS" ...