Salteddevo

Hi, i'm trying to figure out which vehicle i would rather have. i'm 17, my dad has en e46 m3 and it's nice but not fast enough. He won't let me mod his which is fine so i would go ahead and buy my own and supercharge it. I want an evo because of the 4wd but the power that can be put into m3 is worth it. I live in wisconsin and would love to have awd for year round rather than half of the year. What should I go with?

Pal215

iTrader: (12)

Should not have listed your age my man, people might give you a hard time.

Us evom'rs are going to be a little biased to this question as we love the evo. I think that you would have more fun in an evo and it will be safer for you than a 605hp m3. 605hp at the rear wheel breaks traction very easily, so it's easy to drift into a street light if you're not careful. A 400hp evo will keep traction through most gears which will allow you to maintain control. It's a much more forgiving car. I've spun out my evo a few times by driving like an idiot at night through canyons when I was young, none of which caused an accident or killed me. If I was in a high hp m3, i would have easily hit something or drove off the canyon entirely.

Would be nice to have an E46 m3 though, that is my favorite BMW.

six40

Better question is, how much experience do you have driving high power cars? What car, what power, and for how long? Being a 17 year old kid tells me you will be slacking in the experience department. And despite what you see on 1320Videos, MRL and the like where it's all big numbers, 400+hp to the wheels of just about anything, is a lot of power. So before we steer you in the wrong direction think about that for a second. Reminds me of the squids that want a litre bike as their first bike when they can't even realistically handle a 250cc.

Salteddevo

You're right I shouldn't have posted my age but I have been to the bmw driving camp as what you would call it. I drove the new m6 and things of that nature, I grew up around cars and i've learned my lesson with drifting and street racing already. My uncle has a Gt500 supersnake and I've driven that easily

Pal215

iTrader: (12)

As long as you are a responsible driver and stay aware of your surroundings I don't see why you couldn't drive any car. As they say, the best drivers are the drivers who fix other drivers mistakes.

Look to make sure no one is around when you get on it (police included), stay off the power in the corners on public roads. Even if you know what you're doing with your training, most other drivers don't. It's scary to think that we are sharing the roads with people that can't even drive a Prius correctly.

Dakota Evo

600 whp m3 wont be reliable and wont have traction

400 whp evo will be fun and fairly reliable as long as you have a decent clutch and arent launching like a tard.

Wanted EVO IX

It’s not your age that’s the problem but your generation. From what I’ve been hearing and reading is the younger folks the ones about to get licensed are not wanting to own cars. My hats off to you and your passion for cars. I vote Evo, BMW is cool car too.

paul4x4

I vote a car with a lot less power, honestly. IMO just a stock Evo would be pushing it for a first car. Just because you drove your dad's GT500 doesn't mean anything. Lack of experience could really come to bite you if you get into a situation you don't know how to handle.

cficare68

iTrader: (6)

I have an Evo and a BMW. I can honestly say go with the Evo. More reliable, easier and cheaper to work on. BMW you code everything. Injector fails, have to code it. Battery dies and needs replaced, have to code it. Don't get me wrong they are fun and by far more comfortable than the evo. But the pros outweigh the cons for the Evo. Plus being that you live in Wisconsin you'll be able you utilize the evo year round.

Erik@MIL.SPEC

iTrader: (94)

I have been on the forums here since 2001...before the Evo 8 came to the US and when getting an Evo to the states was only a dream.

THere have been a number of drivers killed in their Evos, most if not all were speeding.

And every single one of those driver deaths, the driver was under the age of 25.

I just put a tune on my DD, an e92 335i. Car probably puts down 350 to 370 whp...maybe more. Last time I dynoed it, it didn't have a tune and it put 306whp down at only 8 psi.

At 350+, the car spins tires fairly easily. And you want to put a 17 year old (no offense) in a 600+ whp car? I love cars, and if I had a kid, there is no way in heck I'd allow that.

You're better getting a lower horsepower car and learning how to drive it. Like a Miata. Seriously.

That's my 2 cents.

Ayoustin

iTrader: (2)

Yea I'd be dead 5 times over if I was given a car with that much power at 17. I went through enough **** with tickets when I was younger and I used to say I'd learned my lesson after every ticket I got, that got old. I ended up buying a miata.

If you're really set on having an evo then buy a stock or lightly modded stock turbo car and be content with that. Power isn't something you just hop in and get used to. After working at shops and having friends/friends of friends have their almost stock cars modded for big power, I've seen lots of accidents because people don't realize that their car literally makes 2-4 times the amount of power it did before. Smart people work their way up with power and add more as they learn to control what they've got.

I'm not trying to harp on you or anything but I've seen your story plenty of times and they usually follow a predictable course.

Also, you're going to get reamed by your insurance company with either of those options just FYI.

Sharkbite2000

iTrader: (21)

Evo all day long!

youra6

Neither. Both cars will be too much power for someone who has only driven (legally) for 1 year.

Like someone posted before 400 WHP is still super dangerous especially on a car that weighs just a tad over 3,000 pounds.

My Evo RS makes about 450 WHP and it still scares the **** out of sometimes. If you HAVE to get a performance car, I would just get a relatively stock Evo and tell all your friends its 500 HP and I doubt they will know any better.

Jonno99

Miata for a 17yr old

Get some experiance first enjoy growing up and looking forward to buying a fast car with your own money later

aggieEVO

iTrader: (11)

When the subframe repeatedly tears out of your e46 you'll wish you had an Evo. Evo is much cheaper to maintain, too. Look at the pricing for the S54 water pump.