Not sure if someone said this already, but Mits did make an Evo for alittle more comfort. I read about it in an Evo history thing. They were sold in England and only about 40 were made did not go over very well. It had softer springs and I think an option for automatic. Not sure on that one. I will look it up later.

 

Yes, there are a few auto EVO's floating around.

 

Put it this way.

If you guys had both cars in front of you and could keep one...I bet 99% of you EVO-praising peeps on this board would take the M3 in a flash.

But wait, you guys have EVOs in reality. Thus, all those responses you write came out the way they did.

 

its funny that someone made this tread. everytime i see an m3 it seem that they always want to race me. i guess that they dont see the child seat in the back seat. and its mostly guys like in their 40's. which surprises me . but the m3 is an nice car. i wouldnt mine having one.

 

it's good to have both cars EVO and M3....

 

I get the exact opposite.. M3 & S4 guys when I was driving my Evo around would give me thumbs up.

 

GrimDog-
Don't get me wrong, I love my evo, but dealing with executive management and pulling up in an Evo sucks

are u a shame or somthin?all u had to do is remove the wing.m3 are nice ride!I choose the Evo just cuz it's all year round car.

 

Not so fast. I was in the market for a new E46 M3 or a used 911 (preferably a 993, but I was also looking at the 996). But I gave the Evo a try and bought it without hesitation.

I'm a doctor and most of my colleagues find it strange that I don't drive an S4 or whatever. But most of them who know about cars respect the Evo and understand my choice. But it is a little strange to pull into a departmental Christmas party or something at a fancy restaurant in such a loud, flashy car...but the valet's seem to like it

Emre

 

For a track comparison:

E46 M3 vs 03 evo: Both stock w/ stock street tires, Same track (Roebling Road in Sav GA), Same driver (Me), Both w/ pasengers riding along, Smiliar weather and temp conditions, Same person doing the timing.

M3 1:25.9
Evo 1:26.5

I felt the reason for the speed difference was mainly due to the HUGE amounts of understeer built into the evo set up. The M3 was more neutral and allowed for higher entry speeds. If the alignment or other suspension components (springs, sway bars ect...) where changed to allow for more front end grip then the evo might have been faster but even still I thought it was a good comparison. The indicated speed down the front straight was 131 for the evo and 139 for M3 but I think the M3 was showing high......

Just for more comparison:
2003 Porsche C4S 1:26.3 (w/ same conditions as the first 2) 131-132 front straight speed

My friend and I are trying to get a running tally of street car times at this track. We are going to be testing a 2004 STI this Friday to add to the list.

 

I agree. My Evo's stock alignment was horrible. After a good 4-wheel alignment, lap times dropped dramatically. I'm sure that a bone stock Evo 8 of any type (GSR, MR, or RS) with a proper 4-wheel alignment will post better lap times than a stock E46 M3.

Also, you have to keep in mind that the stock Evo is tuned very badly. Mine was running very rich and the boost taper was so bad that I was forced to short shift at 6000-6500 rpm's to keep the engine on the boil.

I did about $1500 of fairly standard mods to the car: Hallman MBC, Buschur intake, Buschur 3" turbo-back w/ high-flow cat, and (critically) a proper dyno tune by TurboTrix. Drivability was hugely improved. Now, the car pulls all the way to redline and the turbo pretty much stays spooled from beginning to end for an entire track session. Lap times are even better.

I suspect that even a basic mail-in flash would make a huge improvement in drivability.

Emre

 

Sorry but BMWs are overrated especially for that price. If I had the money I would choose something different but that's just me.