Sportauto said it wasnt much difference in laptimes between the normal tires and R-tires on the new M3. Also these R-tires are newly developed and better in the wet and damp roads than the previous ones.

Those R-tires on the AM were Pirelli P Zero Corsa's. Same tyres were on the RS4, M6, Gallardo SL...

and when was the test done for the Aston? a hot summer day in June or a cold day in october?

R-tires are very sensitive for temperatures and can affect the laptimes a lot. On hockenheim it was 2.5 seconds difference for Aston with and without R-tires. It was only 1.1 sec between M3 normal vs R-tires. Only thing I can come up with is that during the testday with Vantage the conditions were better that day than it´was in October month with the M3.

Anyway, if we should compare the times with Vantage then both M3 and R8 are disaster around a track. Only advantage M3 has over Vantange is that its a better value for the money and faster around Hockenheim. :/

For comparison

N-ring
Aston Martin V8 Vantage --------------------------------- 8.03 min (R-tires)
Lamborghini Diablo GT --------------------------------- 8.04 min
Audi R8 -------------------------------------------------- 8.04 min (R compound tires)
BMW M3 E92 --------------- ----------------------------- 8.05 min (R compound tires)
Porsche Carrera S (997) -------------------------------- 8.05 min
Ferrari 575M --------------------------------------------- 8.05 min
Ferrari 550M --------------------------------------------- 8.07 min
BMW M6 -------------------------------------------------- 8.09 min
Ferrari 360M --------------------------------------------- 8.09 min
Honda NSX-R -------------------------------------------- 8.09 min
Audi RS4 ------------------------------------------------- 8.09 min (R compound tires)
Lamborghini Diablo SV ---------------------------------- 8.09 min
Viper GTS (1997) ---------------------------------------- 8.10 min
Donkervoort D8 180R ----------------------------------- 8.10 min
Aston Martin V8 Vantage ------------------------------ 8.13 min (without R-tires)
BMW M5 E60 --------------------------------------------- 8.13 min
Viper SRT-10 --------------------------------------------- 8.13 min
Lotus Esprit Sport 350 ---------------------------------- 8.13 min
Mercedes SLK55 Black Series ------------------------------------------8.14 min (R-tires)

Hockenheim
Porsche 997 Turbo ---------------------------------------- 1.13,7 min
MB CLK63 Black Series ----------------------------------- 1.13,8 min (R compound tires)
MTM Audi S4 Clubsport (500hp) --------------------- 1.13.9 min
Donkervoort D8 180R ----------------------------------- 1.14,1 min
Ford GT -------------------------------------------------- 1.14.1 min (only in 3rd gear due to broken gear box)
Oettinger Audi TTRSR, 340 PS -------------------------------------------------- 1.14,3 min
Porsche Carrera S (997) -------------------------------- 1.14,3 min
BMW M3 V8 -------------------------------------- 1.14,3 min (R compound tires)
Mercedes SLK55 Black Series -------------------------------- 1.14,4 min (R compound tires)
Lamborghini Diablo GT --------------------------------- 1.14,4 min
BMW M6 -------------------------------------------------- 1.14,4 min
Z4 Alpina Roadster S------------------------------------- 1.14,4 min
Honda NSX-R -------------------------------------------- 1.14,6 min
Porsche 911 Turbo (420hp) ---------------------------- 1.14,6 min
Ferrari 575M --------------------------------------------- 1.14,7 min
Aston Martin V8 Vantage --------------------------------- 1.14,8 min (R-tires)
Corvette C6 ---------------------------------------------- 1.14,8 min

The Aston has more grunt (torque) than the m3 which helps it come out of corners better I'd say and like Just_me pointed out, the test was done in hot weather unlike the cold temp M3 test.

Also, the 911C2s was using Ceramic brakes, and I'm sure many folks around here know that just having good brakes can take off a few seconds around many tracks because it allows to brake later than normal brakes.

do you know the differance between r tires and r compound tires?

The M3 has a clear power advantage, that helps everywhere

The wheater wasn't cold when the M3 was tested.

It's about time BMW offers it's M cars with decent brakes.

They are the same - I guess R tires is just the short version of R compound tires. But it is really a very unscientific term - there is no special "R rubber compound" that all manufacturers use - it is just an indication of how soft the tire is. You have to really look at tires UTQG rating to see where it stands - for example, Michelin cups have a 80/AA/A UTQG rating and Corsas are rated at 60/AA/A. The first number is the wear rating or in other words how soft the compound is (the 2 sets of alphabets that follow is the traction and temperature rating). So the Corsas are in fact more softer than the cups and have a shorter thread life. I don't know bout the cup+ that the new M3 uses, but I heard they are harder than the normal cups to make them more usable in wet weather - so probably a 100 - I haven't seen any what is generally considered as R tires with a wear rating above 100.

oh and don't feed trolls.

So,you´re saying that M cars don´t have first class brakes ?As I remember,E46 CLS has 33,5 meters from 100 to 0 km/h stoping distance..So,if thats not good enough,I don´t know what is ..

It's a known fact that the floating piston "in-house" developed brakes callipers of the BMWs, whilst providing excellent retardation, are prone to fading with prolonged hard use.

Hence the move to Brembo methinks...