jdjazzman

Okay, sorry if this topic has been brought up before, but a friend of mine and me are having a very hard time deciding who would win RS4 vs. M3 (E46)...Both track races and street races.

He believes that the M3 will be faster both starting line, and on corners. He believes the handling is far superior to the RS4 because simply, It's a BMW, and they all have the best handling (which I agree with to some extent).

I believe the RS4 is faster, handles better (due to the somewhat negative articles i've been reading on the new M3's handling). Right off the bat, the M3 may be a shy quicker, according to their stats, M3 4.8 0-60, while RS4 is 4.9 (Using the US stats for M3). However, I think once a turn comes along, the RS4 will take the lead and hold on to it.

SO, what do you honestly think...
putting aside your biases towards the audi or BMW, honestly think about it...what do you think is faster, handles better, and would win a race, on both a street course and a track.

I will be posting this on both audiworld and bimmer.org, to see if what you drive influences your response more than not.

Thanks

Josh

Longwolf (Christian)

I would think RS4 would win on speed and maybe handling...but RS4 costs so much more than the M3.

Vince L.

Maybe not! Remeber: BMW's are more razor sharp in handling than Audi's!

Vince L.

Don't be too sure.....M3 is lighter than the RS4 for sure.

Matt H. (Silroan)

Probably so close that it would simply be a question of driving ability and preferance.

Longwolf (Christian)

And then there's gearing to consider...BMWs have traditionally have better 0-60 gearing than Audis.

And would AWD make up for the sharper handling of the BMW? No idea.

Vince L.

I've always thought that Quattro makes handling a lot better then after owning my present A4, I was sort of disappointed. My '94 325is (in all honesty) handled better than my A4.

I have come to the conclusion that traction and handling are two different aspects in a car. Quattro provides better traction, yes. But it doesn't make up for the Bimmer's almost perfect weight distribution (50/50) and whatever else they did with their sport suspension and rack and pinion steering.

I guess I'll need an engineer to fully understand the mechanics behind those things.

Maybe the new generation Audi's and Bimmer's are different?

Longwolf (Christian)

Good point, I agree that handling and traction are different aspects.

Wir fahr'n auf der Autobahn

RS4 does 440nm from 2500-6000RPM and the new M3 seems to pull 365nm @ 4900RPM. Have those two big blowers seem to give it a significant punch.

Vince L.

How come they have similar 0-60 times if the RS4 has more torque (average?) at certain levels of RPM? I'm guessing 0-60 is always done in a staight run right? And power at these band levels are constant no matter what gear or speed you are in?