The very clever chaps at Donut Media have given us the morphtastic animation of the BMW 3 Series. We applaud them and thank the for sharing it with the world.
If you’d like to buy a poster charting the lineage of the 3 Series the Donut lads have you covered there too.
[Source: Donut Media]
The application of camouflage on the roof of this F80 BMW M3 prototype is a fairly good indication the assumption it will be made from carbon fibre is on the money. It’s expected the new M3 will weigh at least 100kg less than the previous E92 model; perhaps even as much as 140kg less.
Earlier speculation the turbocharged 3.0 litre inline six cylinder engine will boast 335kW (450hp) is still around the mark. The M3 should be on sale a bit under 12 months from now, so may well see an official debut in March 2014, at the Geneva Motor Show.
[Source: WCF]
It’s the classic German duel—Audi v BMW—and Autocar has been kind enough to play out the latest fight for us. It’s the 331kW 4.2 litre RS5 up against the 309kW 4.0 litre M3. Will the extra power and quattro all-wheel drive in the Audi give it an edge over the benchmark rear-wheel drive M3?
There’s no fancy timing equipment, no drag strip and no race tracks to decide the winner here. It’s just a seat of the pants match up on a closed road. Just as it should be.
UPDATE: Auto Express has also had a crack at this comparison, and they did take the RS5 and M3 to the track. It’s not the world’s most in-depth review, but it’s still worth a look.
Michael Jordan would. Not that Michael Jordan, no, the Michael Jordan from Edmunds Inside Line. In fact, MJ not only reckons the current Golf GTI is better than the BMW M3, he says it is twice as good!
It’s true, this is what he said, “This is some great car. It’s not that it’s less than half the price as an M3; it’s that it’s more than twice as good as an M3.”
There is some method to his madness, though, “I’m tired of driving 4,000-pound sedans masquerading as coupes. Most of my disappointment in the BMW 1 Series has to do with its unwillingness to embrace a new personality as a light car rather than simply perpetuate the old 3 Series template.”
Jordan continues, “For me, the Volkswagen GTI is the kind of M3 that I prefer, less like a V8-powered truck and more like the Whispering Bomb.”
I can see where he is coming from, and the price gap is exacerbated to greater extremes here in Australia, but if presented with the choice of a GTI and an M3, budget aside, the M3 would get my vote. Read the full article and let us know what you think.
[Source: Edmunds Inside Line | Thanks to Adam for the tip]
Is the tight, twisty and ultra smooth Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road in Abu Dhabi the best in the world? In Series 15, Episode 7, Fifth Gear sent Tiff Needell to the middle east and gave him the keys to a BMW M3 to find out.
You can see the 11km stretch of tarmac on Google Maps, or read more about Jebel Hafeet on Wikipedia.
When watching an episode of Top Gear you get the impression that Jeremy’s powersliding is so effortless and well honed. I wonder if, behind the scenes, it looks more like this?
Either way, it would still be a heck of a lot of fun!
Source: Car and Driver
The shootout saw Jason Plato in a Lexus IS-F with Tiff Needell in a BMW M3 saloon. The Bimmer was quicker round the track. Just. But no surprise that the Toyota felt softer and more distant. Tom pitted the new Subaru Forester against a Land Rover Freelander II. He reckoned the Forester was tinny and under powered. He wasn’t much of a fan of the auto transmission either. A weclome addition to the cast this week was the Nissan GT-R and the Porsche 911 Turbo. Oh yeah, and Bruno Senna. Fittingly, he was fanging the cars around a wet track in conditions that his uncle would have loved (see clip above). I say, flick Tiff and replace him with Bruno.
Vicki filed a report from a tribute to Colin McRae which saw 1086 Impreza WRXs spell out his name. She also got a fang in McRae’s 1996 WRC winning car. Very tidy indeed! Tom had a go in the Dodge Challenger SRT8. I have to say it looks pretty damn good—for an American coupé. Vicki got the keys to a Vauxhall Astra VXR Nürburgring and a Ford Focus ST (XR5 to us Aussies). Geez, they cram a lot into these episodes. Plato finished the show with John Prescott in a racing Jaguar XK-R. The first three episodes of this series were a bit testing at times, but the last couplf have been much better.
Fifth Gear is back on UK screens and Episode 1 of Series 14 saw the debut of a new presenter, Tim Shaw. No, not the Demtel man, but someone possibly as, erm, loveable. We also saw Snooker legend and resident bad boy Ronnie O’Sullivan get some advice on how to blow his Crucible winnings. He took his pick from a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, a BMW M3 Convertible and a Mitsubishi Evo X. Speaking of the Evo, Jason and Tiff put the Mitsubishi Evo X and the new-ish Subaru Impreza WRX STi to the test to determine which was the best track day weapon. Jonny showed that scrap metal is not always worth more than the sum of its parts. Tom tried to see if the Ford Kuga was a stick in the mud, and, well, it was, even if he reckons it’s otherwise okay. Cast your mind back the the slick Roger Moore James Bond era and you’ll see exactly where Rinspeed’s inspiration for the sQuba came from (pictured above).
See you next week.
The latest episode of Five’s Fifth Gear aired in the UK recently.
Cars featured in Episode 2 include:
A clip of the BMW v Benz segment has already found it’s way on to youtube. That didn’t seem to take long, I wonder if Five will ask for the clip to be removed?