Mdreiver
8-24-06, 12:12 PM
This is a day fit for Cool and the Gang.
I'm a waiter for an 07S (as you may have picked up on from previous posts) and I needed a beater anyway. So I used this exercise as an opportunity to ditch the M3 early rather than keeping it until my Box came in.
I'm kicking myself for not driving the A3 before I purchased the M3. I have to tell you, it never would have happened. I never drove the standard suspension M3 nor a manual. But my competition pkg with SMG was a living nightmare. They got nothing right but ultimate power and interior fit and finish.
* The power band is way too peaky. On par with a Boxster running cold air intake and questionable software.
* The steering is hugely inaccurate.
* The brakes are way overboosted.
* The SMG can be driven smoothly (I know how to do it) but it's still the dumbest tranny I've ever driven.
*** If you downshift while braking, it provides "safety" by engine braking violently.
*** It double clutches on up and downshifts and leaves you between gears way too long. The fast shifts in the brochure are only possible near the redline. If you shift under 4k, it assumes you don't mind coasting for 1 or 2 seconds.
*** The auto mode is unusable b/c of the aforementioned slow shifts and the fact that unlike every other automatic on the planet, it won't use throttle position as input to the shifting algorithm. Yes, full floor does cause a downshift. But on upshifts, it will interrupt your acceleration for a very slow and clunky upshift even when you're accelerating that it can't possibly match after it shifts. The shift programs are idiotic and none of them work "right".
My final complaint with the M3 is that is too quiet and refined for a sports car but too rough and impolite to ever be enjoyed on a relaxing drive. I've been desensitized to speed after zooming around in a droptop for 5+ years. 100mph appears dull and boring in the M3 coupe. So, since you can't ever get real thrills out of it and you also can't just sit back and chill in it, it's horribly caught in no man's land.
I replaced it with an A3 Quattro. The DSG is devine. The ride is smooth and silky. Or in in UNIX,
# echo $MYCAR > ~scott/old_ride
# sed "s/M/A/g" ~scott/old_ride > ~scott/new_ride
# sed "s/unhappiness and disappointment/satisfaction and glee/g" ~scott/old_ride >> ~scott/new_ride
# rm -f ~scott/old_ride
The A3 is no sport's car and it's no 333bhp but my sport's car arrives in March so that's okay. :)
I'm a waiter for an 07S (as you may have picked up on from previous posts) and I needed a beater anyway. So I used this exercise as an opportunity to ditch the M3 early rather than keeping it until my Box came in.
I'm kicking myself for not driving the A3 before I purchased the M3. I have to tell you, it never would have happened. I never drove the standard suspension M3 nor a manual. But my competition pkg with SMG was a living nightmare. They got nothing right but ultimate power and interior fit and finish.
* The power band is way too peaky. On par with a Boxster running cold air intake and questionable software.
* The steering is hugely inaccurate.
* The brakes are way overboosted.
* The SMG can be driven smoothly (I know how to do it) but it's still the dumbest tranny I've ever driven.
*** If you downshift while braking, it provides "safety" by engine braking violently.
*** It double clutches on up and downshifts and leaves you between gears way too long. The fast shifts in the brochure are only possible near the redline. If you shift under 4k, it assumes you don't mind coasting for 1 or 2 seconds.
*** The auto mode is unusable b/c of the aforementioned slow shifts and the fact that unlike every other automatic on the planet, it won't use throttle position as input to the shifting algorithm. Yes, full floor does cause a downshift. But on upshifts, it will interrupt your acceleration for a very slow and clunky upshift even when you're accelerating that it can't possibly match after it shifts. The shift programs are idiotic and none of them work "right".
My final complaint with the M3 is that is too quiet and refined for a sports car but too rough and impolite to ever be enjoyed on a relaxing drive. I've been desensitized to speed after zooming around in a droptop for 5+ years. 100mph appears dull and boring in the M3 coupe. So, since you can't ever get real thrills out of it and you also can't just sit back and chill in it, it's horribly caught in no man's land.
I replaced it with an A3 Quattro. The DSG is devine. The ride is smooth and silky. Or in in UNIX,
# echo $MYCAR > ~scott/old_ride
# sed "s/M/A/g" ~scott/old_ride > ~scott/new_ride
# sed "s/unhappiness and disappointment/satisfaction and glee/g" ~scott/old_ride >> ~scott/new_ride
# rm -f ~scott/old_ride
The A3 is no sport's car and it's no 333bhp but my sport's car arrives in March so that's okay. :)