Road & Track Compares M3, Z06, & 911

[GWH]

I just received my latest edition of Road & Track, you know, the magazine that has never liked 'vettes Yeah, that's the one.
Anyway, they took a BMW M3, a Z06, and a 911 and tested them against each other. Talk about biased edititorials!! They called the M3 a "Sports Car" and deducted points from the Z06 for not having back seats WTF? They said the M3 ran 0-60' times less than .1 secs. off of the Z06 times. We are talking about BMW weighing 300 lbs. more, pushing 343bhp, with 269 lb-ft. of torque and the Z06 pushing 385-385. Guys in our club are turning 0-60' times of 4.0-4.3. They could only get 4.5 with a professional driver? There was 6 pages dedicated to the accolades of the M3 and 1 page about the 'vette & 911. Nice unbiased comparison.
I like the 3 series BMWs, but compare apples to apples.
I just suscribe and am now cancelling my subscription!!

[igor@af]

oh yes,
probably ALL car mags are BIASED,
it's actually not BIASED, but CHEAP.
Anybody who pays them wins their "comparison". That's all there's to it. In this case, BMW gave them some $$$ prob.

[Chris]

I agree. The vette is awesome, the BMW is a great car, but there is NO way it can compete with a vette. Besides, teh vette has 10 times the sex appeal. They also said the vette was "a bit rough", but what do u want from a car that is meant to take on the viper (which it does, it is faster accelerating [4 second 0-60 vs a vipers 4.1], and way faster around the track).
Final thought- give the old wussies with the bad backs the M3, but for the real men, the Z06 is bitchin!!

[carman]

You said it all!

[Gripenfelter]

I've never considered the M3 a sports car.

A sports sedan sure.

They should compare it to a mercedes and other sport luxury cars.

I'm tired of biased editors giving the Bimmers the top honours.

I've driven a BMW 328i. Yes they handle very nicely.

But they don't compare to a Corvette or a Porsche sorry.

[JD@af]

Man that's just crumby of them to do that. While I don't doubt the test numbers they came up with (probably related to improper break-in of the Z06) in the R&T article, it is too bad that they have published a biased report on these cars.

I can see eye-to-eye with them in some respects, in that frankly I would take either an M3 or a 911 over a Z06 any day of the week.. unless I was about to race, in which case I would definitely defer to the Z. One can not deny the Z06's goods, in that its performance stats are right up there with the very best production cars the world has to offer, particularly impressive at the Z06's low price. Not to mention it is very accomodating as a cruising automobile as well, and treats its passengers right. I guess it got overshadowed in the article since the M3 is the freshest meat on the market.

[MrCorvetteZ06]

M3 the freshest?? Z06 was first driven in August, and I thought that the M3 had been around for a few years. In C&D, they did a comparison between the Viper GTS ACR, Cobra R, and Z06 and ranked the R third, GTS 2nd, and Z06 first. They said the Z06 wasn't the fastest(0-60 in 4.5??) while the Viper was a 4.3 and the R was a 4.6?? Also, the R handled the best with a .98 while the GTS had a .96 and the vette a .93 WTF?? What really upset me was in earlier editions the vette did 0-60 in 4.2 and had a .99 on the skid-pad. The vette still won though, because they said even though it wasn't the fastest (the viper was quicker)the interior was the nicest, and also it was almost half the cost of the GTS. I like car and driver the best out of C&D, MT, and R&T though. It seems that they are the most unbiased and also the most humurous.

[JD@af]

BMW just released an all new M3 late last year. It is much more serious about challenging sports cars like the Z06 than its predecessor.

[autofan]

Z06 is clearly the winner.
R&T should take less bribes and everything will be fine.

[vettemaan]

It looks like they took the crap numbers of the Z06 and the best of the others.

[Robs944S]

You guys sure whine a lot. Go out to the Track & see for yourself. That new M3 is a force to dealt with.

[GWH]

Oh I agree, but not against a ZO6. A stock C5 maybe, but not ZO6.

[Chris]

To ThunderFish911, I was merely quoting Chevy's data for the Z06, and one of my magazines data on the Viper, not a Viper ACR, which is even pricier, but, yes, quicker. Really, the only thing holding back both cars is rubber. Put Viper rubber on a Vette Z06, and then the Viper will most likely waste the Viper. Both are great cars, though. The only way to settle this is to find some rich bugger who owns both cars, and have him drive them both at a fragstrip. Any takers???

[HeavyRightFOOT]

Yea I like C&D the most too. But ever since there main test guy Don Schroader, died in a fatal crash the numbers have really gone up. Don Schraoder was a amazing driver. They put him against pro drivers and he was able to get the best lap times pretty much every time. I read that R&T article and god, it was so biased. They tried to come up with every excuse to make the Z06 look bad against the M3. The M3 is fast but a regular C5 will probably smoke it. Comparing a speed demon like the Z06 to it isn't fair at all.

[Racer 20]

What's wrong with you guys? An M3 will rip the engine right out of a stock C5. Especially on the turns. Do you guys understand the potentialy of this car with the right driver? That 01 M3 was faster than the 00 M5. There is no chance in hell it is faster in a strait line but in certain conditions the M3 is ZO6 competition.