The M3 was better....
04-24-2004, 08:29 PM
#11
Member
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 6,196
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I consider them to be very different cars. Which one you like is a question of personal taste.
In my case I drive a wagon, so it seems rather silly to try to compare a coupe to a wagon and expect a single statement of which one is better without asking what the initial question was in the first place.
If your goal is purely performance without compromise and road amenities are a waste of money, there are better values than either of these machines out there - go look at an EVO instead. If you want some amenities but far more slanted toward the performance side than maybe the M3 might better fit the bill. If you want a luxury car that is very close to the above the S4 jumps into the picture.
I don't want an overly stiff car and I like my luxury appointments. I could care less if the M3 meets your needs better - if it does buy it and enjoy it.
What's your point? Do you need a magazine editor to tell you what to buy? It doesn't sounds like it to me - drive as many different ones as you can and decide for yourself.
If your goal is purely performance without compromise and road amenities are a waste of money, there are better values than either of these machines out there - go look at an EVO instead. If you want some amenities but far more slanted toward the performance side than maybe the M3 might better fit the bill. If you want a luxury car that is very close to the above the S4 jumps into the picture.
I don't want an overly stiff car and I like my luxury appointments. I could care less if the M3 meets your needs better - if it does buy it and enjoy it.
What's your point? Do you need a magazine editor to tell you what to buy? It doesn't sounds like it to me - drive as many different ones as you can and decide for yourself.
04-24-2004, 08:41 PM
#12
New Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 63
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The S4 is heavier...cause of the quattro..!!
I realize that...duh! All I am saying is that my 3.0Q sport has much less HP and when I drove the S4 I expected a ton more get up and go, but it wasn't all that. For having 125hp more then my car it should've been a huge difference, but it WAS NOT!
It should've been a twin-turbo V8 or supercharged. I don't care what you guys say it was a dissappointment!
It should've been a twin-turbo V8 or supercharged. I don't care what you guys say it was a dissappointment!
04-24-2004, 08:44 PM
#13
New Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 63
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A little defensive...
I just wanted to share my experience. I not looking to purchase a car. My friend owns both so I decided to a side-by-side comparo and share what I thought of each car.
Jeez!
Jeez!
04-24-2004, 08:49 PM
#14
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,096
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Some of what you are saying is right....but overall I would say....
you might need to make some adjustments to your statement. Especially your observations on the suspension. First of all, anyone who has driven both car (US Spec) knows that the S4 suspension is more compliant than the M3. What you are experiencing is called "the placebo effect" of driving a BMW.
I have driven both cars on several occassions and I can say with confidence that the M3, with or without 19's is a harsher ride. It would make sense since the M3 is made for a stiffer, sporties ride. Even out of sport mode the suspension is stiffer...in fact I don't even think sport mode on the M3 does anything to alter the suspension...it might disable DSC, ASR and ABS functions and alter the valve timing, but the M3 does not have an adjustable suspension.
Second of all compared to an A4 3.0 the S4 feels like a rocket. The Auto 3.0 is slow and uninspired to move IMHO...if you didnt feel much of a difference from your car a sub (7 second car) to an S4 a sub (5 second car) something is wrong.
The M3, has the crisp sound of tin cans rattling behind you...not a Porsche. Remember a Porsche has a mid mounted engine...you will never in a million years get the same sound from an M3. What you are dealing with in an M3 is an engine that sounds like it is working hard to move the car...it's an athlete. The 4.2 Liter in the S4 is a V8 it will be deeper, less mechanical sounding and more linear than an inline six. The 4.2 pulls hard from bottom to top. the 3.2 pulls harder from the middle to the top, just the nature of displacement and the engineering of the engines.
These magazines picked the S4 Number one for a reason. Not because one car is better than the other in certain aspects, but it is an overall comparison. The S4 laps quicker around a track, because it is generally more compliant than an M3. The M3 is quicker in a straight line because it has a severe weight advantage over the S4. But where the M3 loses to magazine editors is not in styling, not necessarily interior, but everyday usuability and overall packaging.
Over and over the S4 is the "overall" package. It is also unfortunately the "overall" compromise. You can't get it all from one car. That probably why your friend has his M3 and his S4...
I have driven both cars on several occassions and I can say with confidence that the M3, with or without 19's is a harsher ride. It would make sense since the M3 is made for a stiffer, sporties ride. Even out of sport mode the suspension is stiffer...in fact I don't even think sport mode on the M3 does anything to alter the suspension...it might disable DSC, ASR and ABS functions and alter the valve timing, but the M3 does not have an adjustable suspension.
Second of all compared to an A4 3.0 the S4 feels like a rocket. The Auto 3.0 is slow and uninspired to move IMHO...if you didnt feel much of a difference from your car a sub (7 second car) to an S4 a sub (5 second car) something is wrong.
The M3, has the crisp sound of tin cans rattling behind you...not a Porsche. Remember a Porsche has a mid mounted engine...you will never in a million years get the same sound from an M3. What you are dealing with in an M3 is an engine that sounds like it is working hard to move the car...it's an athlete. The 4.2 Liter in the S4 is a V8 it will be deeper, less mechanical sounding and more linear than an inline six. The 4.2 pulls hard from bottom to top. the 3.2 pulls harder from the middle to the top, just the nature of displacement and the engineering of the engines.
These magazines picked the S4 Number one for a reason. Not because one car is better than the other in certain aspects, but it is an overall comparison. The S4 laps quicker around a track, because it is generally more compliant than an M3. The M3 is quicker in a straight line because it has a severe weight advantage over the S4. But where the M3 loses to magazine editors is not in styling, not necessarily interior, but everyday usuability and overall packaging.
Over and over the S4 is the "overall" package. It is also unfortunately the "overall" compromise. You can't get it all from one car. That probably why your friend has his M3 and his S4...
04-24-2004, 08:56 PM
#16
sorry, but I think you are wrong about most of the points you make
even most m3 owners agree that the S4 sounds better and has a smoother ride. Of course, the m3 does handle better.
04-24-2004, 08:57 PM
#17
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,096
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
thats what i thought to....i was like WTF is he talking about
since when does a 50K sports car have an adjustable suspension...thanks for the clarification. I dont own an M3 so I wasnt 4 sure.
04-24-2004, 09:04 PM
#18
Member
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 6,196
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Cool - comparisons are fun. Like I said they are very different cars that appeal to different
tastes and needs. I like the fact that this is true - it means that we all have more choices when it comes time to buy the next whatever.....
I simply found it amusing that you felt it useful to declare one a "better" car than the other. My question as before is "better at what"? There is a long laundry list that can be made up for each car in which one is better at something than the other. I don't personally subscribe to the notion that there is an overall "best choice" - simply lots of them.
I simply found it amusing that you felt it useful to declare one a "better" car than the other. My question as before is "better at what"? There is a long laundry list that can be made up for each car in which one is better at something than the other. I don't personally subscribe to the notion that there is an overall "best choice" - simply lots of them.
04-24-2004, 09:11 PM
#19
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 950
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Different from my experiences....
I'm a BMW owner (well, I sold my 328i this week)who went out to buy an M3 and after four back-to-back drives, ordered an S4 (picked it up last weekend).
Both are great cars but my expierences are quite different, even opposite, from yours. I agree with the opinions in the other posts regarding performance, suspension, sounds, quality and utility. I would only add that I found the S4 to sneaky quick and easy to access the car's performance.
Both are great cars but my expierences are quite different, even opposite, from yours. I agree with the opinions in the other posts regarding performance, suspension, sounds, quality and utility. I would only add that I found the S4 to sneaky quick and easy to access the car's performance.
04-24-2004, 09:11 PM
#20
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,096
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
How can you say that an A4 3.0 even feels like an S4....
its like comparing David and Goliath...the A4 3.0 in all respects of the Sport Sedan game is inferior to an S4. that why its 10K more than an A4.
Prolly the only category that the A4 has a one up in the S4 is gas mileage...and maybe rear passenger comfort.
Personally I am dissapointed you even posted your comments on the forum, I respectfully disagree with your opinions. But you have already destroyed your credibility by making the comparison of an M3 sounding like a Porsche, and an A4 being very close in power, suspension aspect to an S4. An M3 having a softer suspension that an S4. And the S4 sounding muffled...furthermore you said the shifter in the M3 is much better and you haven't even driven an S4 with a stick...DID YOU EVEN DRIVE BOTH CARS????
Prolly the only category that the A4 has a one up in the S4 is gas mileage...and maybe rear passenger comfort.
Personally I am dissapointed you even posted your comments on the forum, I respectfully disagree with your opinions. But you have already destroyed your credibility by making the comparison of an M3 sounding like a Porsche, and an A4 being very close in power, suspension aspect to an S4. An M3 having a softer suspension that an S4. And the S4 sounding muffled...furthermore you said the shifter in the M3 is much better and you haven't even driven an S4 with a stick...DID YOU EVEN DRIVE BOTH CARS????