Just_me

There have been much talk on this board how the M3 Coupé have an advantage over the competition for being a Coupé, particulary on a track.

In latest issue of Sportauto they tested the 4-door M3 on Hockenheim + acceleration times. 4-door M3 had the exact same tires as M3 Coupé.

So here is the result:

E90 vs E92

0-100km/h: 4,9 / 4.8 sec
0-200km/h: 15,9 / 15,7 sec

Hockenheim: 1:14,6 / 1:14,3 min
Slalom 18m: 68,6 / 69,2 km/h

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Yes, it's true the Coupé performs better but the difference is extremly small. Not as big as some might have think.
Credits were due, the 4-door M3 is just as great car as M3 Coupé. Beauty vs practicality, your choice.

BMW_Dude

Good to see!

Although I think the E93 M3 would be trailing these cars due to the extra weight!

DeDe

Still want the coupe, because of the look.

Centurion

Well the M3 sedan is still slower and the acceleration figures and lap times you posted might not look like much on paper but in real life it's very visible. So you can't really say that the E90 M3 is just as good as the Coupe because it isn't. Further more the Coupe probably feels a bit more nimble because it's lighter and has a lower center of gravity. So there is no credit due here because like expected the sedan is slightly inferior.

Just look at the E63 vs E55 battle, on the paper the difference is small but from the drag races we have seen the E55 pulls steadily away from the E63.

Just_me

The point is that on this board here been suggesting that M3 V8 has the advantage over the competition for being a Coupe on a track. Its a little bit true but these numbers shows the differences arent huge. This shows that M3 Sedan performs very well despite of weight and lack of CF roof therefore I give the 4-door M3 creds for being so close to M3 Coupé.
I have said that the differences wont be huge on a track and this test proves my point. (and this should shut the nay sayers, they know who they are ). If it was one second difference I would say M3 Coupe would have an advantage over the competition on a track but 0,06 seconds isnt much to argue about. So I think we can cut the BS that M3 Coupé is a much much better handling car then a 4-door M3.

And yeah, the CF roof is just a markeeting gimmick and a design thing. Now I said it!

BMW Power

I was expecting a signifcant difference but that is truly negligible.

EnI

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Not at all.

CF roof definitely helps to lower the center of gravity. Yet not so much contributing to the overall / total weight reduction.

But it's also true this advantage of CF roof can be experienced in the extreme conditions only. Eg. in tight high-speed corners, slalom driving etc.

Just_me

CF roof helps but it isnt crucial how the car behave

EnI

Sure it's not an automatic guarantee for better handling. And especially not for daily driving. I'm sure it makes a tiny little difference on track, but definitely none in daily driving. More crucial to Coupe's better handling is better body stiffness (2dr only vs 4dr).

To really measure the effectiveness of CF a test between M3 CF roof vs. M3 sunroof versions should be performed (eg. in slalom driving). The differences would be very insignificant in the end. But they would be there though ...

Just_me

Sportauto crew think that M3 with DCT can lap the ring in 8.00min (+/- 1 sec or so...).