Quote:
Originally Posted by tdizzle
I looked at some of the historical figures from last year and was thoroughly disappointed at the numbers BMW is putting out compared to some of the Chevy's and Fords. I expected straight line performance to be slower, but for the 'ultimate driving machine' to out class them on the track.
The thing that stood out the most was the Ford Mustang V6 and it basically equaling the 335i on the track. That seems ridiculous. For some reason I expected the 335i to keep up with the Mustang GT and Camaro SS, but that doesn't seem to be the case. And not sure what's up with the 335is being slower than the new 335i either, but the old 335i being faster (they talked about how much faster the early models were compared to the later ones, 2008ish vs later models).
Sadly the M3 isn't much faster (about 3 seconds) than the old Mustang GT, and I suspect would be slower than the current model as the new SS Camaro is about 3 seconds faster than the M3 (while costing about $30k less, talk about performance per $$$). The new Camaro ZL1 and Shelby GT500 just spank any of the M's, which just makes me sad since they cost substantially less. All that talk about the American cars being too heavy and the Mustang's dated live axle should just die now because they're just beasts in both a straight line and on the track, not to mention cheap. You can actually buy a ZL1 for about what you pay for a loaded 335i.
For reference:
Time / Car / Date
2.57.5 / Camaro ZL1/ New
3.00.6 / Shelby GT500 / New
3:01.5 / Camaro SS / New
3:05.4/ BMW M3/ Feb 2011
3:08.6/ Mustang GT 5.0 / Feb 2011
3:09.5/ Camaro SS / Feb 2010
3:10.5/ BMW 335i Coupe/ August 2007
3:13.2/ BMW 335i / New
3:13.3/ Ford Mustang V6 / Feb 2011
3:13.8/ BMW 335is / Feb 2012
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You need to be careful comparing times from different drivers on different days. So many variables that tests from previous years are only somewhat useful in comparing results this year.
Also, 3 seconds is a BIG difference... if the M3 is 3 seconds faster that is meaningful
On a track, waiting 3 seconds between cars is significant. But, even then, it is hard to compare as the M3 was tested on a different day, different time and different driver.