M3 Vs Corvette Z06

steel21 · Oct 23, 2004

Murray BMF said:

Intersting disscussion... 4 months ago I owned a 04 BMW 325Ci. I traded it in for a 02 Z06 thats been mod-chipped, came with borla exhuast, custom hood and camshaft..... its pushing 440 at the minimum.

Here's what I think.

The BMW (325Ci) feels more refined, more comfort, more ergonomics. It will get up to 125mph as well, and having a lower power band..... its not too shabby at acceleration. Great for a long drive...

The Z06 is a monster, I have to watch out when i pull out and open too much on the gas.

But for long trips, I long for the BMW. Driving the Z06 frustrates me because I just want to speed all the time. The exhaust is LOAD..... and yes I miss the moonroof.

I've always said, if I can have the Z06's power with the 325Ci's interior, with a bit more rigidity on the chasis.... I would have been happy.

Oh yea...... I been pulled over 3-4 time now in the Vette. Granted im a military officer, I havent got a ticket yet. Today I got pulled over driving at 68mph on I-5. I hate this rediculous speed limit, it almost makes me wanna trade in for a 540i.....

Just some thoughts that you guys might want to know from daily experience.

Average Jae · Oct 23, 2004

Murray BMF said:

i'm bored so i'll combine both Emile's point and replace it w/ Murray BMF's sentiments. i think it's funny [:p]

The hooker is a beast in the bed and you gotta give credit where credit is due. Everybody says they would take the wife over the hooker because the WIFE is good in bed, not because she's the better performer. It's because you feel more connected to the wife and it has the best you-wowan you are sleeping w/ communication and when you push her, she actually makes you happy....few women can do this and the other women that can have the same maiden name as her.

emile said:

JGM3E3632 · Oct 24, 2004

I have had a run in with a 2002 Z06 at Roebling Road Raceway. I guess the guys that was driving had no clue of what he had in his hands because I laid it to him like a shitty baby.

epj3 · Oct 24, 2004

ewwwwwwww

SloopJohnB · Oct 25, 2004

Naaah. Run Whatcha Brung.

SloopJohnB · Oct 25, 2004

BMW HAS put a V8 in the M3....

and got kicked out of the class after running it provisionally for two years. So much for BMW homologation promises. Although they're no worse than anyone else, manufacturer-wise.
IIRC it was unbeatable, except when it rained and the Audis kicked its ass.
BTW...put a Quattro against anything remotely near the same power to weight ratio (or quit adding minimum weight everytime the Audis win) and about the only thing you see is the Audi's tailpipes.

Yeah, I could live with a bulletproof M5 V8 motor in the next M3.

gpoints · Oct 25, 2004

epj3 said:

What's that a picture of? Is that a picture of what the vette uses? If it looked like that, I wouldn't think about buying one. Now if it looked like this:

andreyiv · Oct 25, 2004

Grow up eric, so what it uses leaf springs, your hard drive uses basically the same design as a vinyl record player, so what? The leaf springs do its job and do it well. PhatBimmer was saying the vette is bad because of this and that but just like gpoints said, look at the part of the show where the vette ran at the track, it kicked many car's behinds, including the M3, I don't remember how it compared against the CSL.

Of course I would take the M3 any day, it is a more luxurious car but performance wise the vette is mostly better even with it's outdated leaf springs.

poboyis · Oct 27, 2004

MrElussive said:

i love that you said that, the mustang has a solid rearaxle, no independant rear suspension, even the new body style in '05 has it, how embarrassing, it cant be a contender without MAJOR modifications

bmw046series · Oct 27, 2004

Let's just make the agreement that the new M5 will make the vette look like a pepper grinder with wheels.

gpoints · Oct 27, 2004

bmw046series said:

Which vette? The C5 or the C6. Regular or Z06? Sorry, had to... [drinking]

Kirby · Oct 27, 2004

poboyis said:

Amaizing isn't it? The Mustang is basically Ford's sports car, and it still has a solid axle. I read that the Cobra or Mach I (I forget which) will finally get an IRS OPTION in 2006.

bmw046series · Oct 27, 2004

gpoints said:

Both combined.

gpoints · Oct 28, 2004

bmw046series said:

We'll wait until both come out (M5 & Z06) and argue until our teeth fall out. [cheers]

poboyis · Oct 28, 2004

Kirby said:

i sure hope so, so it will be fun in more than just a straight line

brahtw8 · Oct 29, 2004

Kirby said:

Actually, the previous generation SVT Cobra also had IRS.

The Z06 is a very capable track car. The SCCA ITE Vettes are running very good lap times, several seconds quicker than a modified class E46 M3. Once you address the brakes and a bit of the suspension, the Z06 is a very fast track car. US E46 M3s also have crappy brakes, relatively speaking (and compared to the Euro E46 M3), so that is not anything to rip the Vette for in a comparison against the M3.

Zeratul made a comment about an M3 CSL beating a Z06 at the Nurburgring by a few minutes. That is absurd. The CSL ran a 7m56s lap, and the Z06 runs right around 8 minutes IIRC. At worst it would run about 8m 10s. A few minutes is an eternity at the 'ring.

I don't want a Z06, mind you, and I like an E46 M3 SMG (perhaps next summer, and perhaps a 'vert), but I don't have any misimpressions of how they compare.

gpoints · Oct 29, 2004

brahtw8 said:

Do you have any info to back that up? This is the first time I've ever heard the Euro model being any better than the US model in terms of performance (engine, brakes, suspension, etc). [scratch]

brahtw8 · Oct 29, 2004

gpoints said:

The euro model comes with 2-piece floating rotors.

E46 M3s are well known for brake fade and rotor warping when tracked, which is why serious people upgrade the brakes.

**

With an aluminum center hub, there is a weight saving, but the best gain is the reduction in rotational weight on each axle.

Cross drilled with an aluminum hub make it lighter
Weights 15 lbs vs 17 lbs of the US equivalent
Increased cooling creates less brake fatigue
Provides both function and lightness at a affordable price
Simple, easy bolt-on upgrade to US Spec E46 M3
Unidirectional, specify left or right

http://www.aatuning.com/brakes/e46brakes.cfm

http://www.m3forum.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000696.html

BTW, you probably don't know this either:

The European E46 M3 also makes about 5 more horsepower than the US M3, owing to US emissions (I believe it is manifested in a more restrictive exhaust, IIRC). It makes 343 horsepower, versus 333 in the US, but european horsepower is measured slightly differently, so a difference of 10 in the #s actually is only a difference of about 5. In other words, if you measured the horsepower of the Euro E46 M3 in American Hp instead of Euro Hp, it would have about 338, not 343. (That is also why the 400 hp. M5 is rated at 394 US, and I suspect the 507 hp. E60 M5 will be 500 in American measure). Jaguar got in a bit of trouble for misrepresenting the horsepower of their SC V8s by using european measure in US advertisements.

gpoints · Oct 29, 2004

Thanks for the links. I'll read into it. [cheers]

Kirby · Oct 29, 2004

brahtw8 said:

In the Autocross nationals this year, the Z06 times kicked the M3's butt in the STOCK class, actually, no E46 M3 even placed in the top 28 (Damn those Honda S2000s!).

But when comparing Best TIme Of Day for any class Corvettes and M3s, a NON-Z06 posted 93.2 sec, while an E36 M3 posted a 93.9 sec, both were in non-stock classes.

So, in AutoX ON A LARGE COURSE like the nationals, a stock Corvette kicks a stock M3's butt. A properly modded/prepared M3 and Corvette are almost equal. On a small tight course, the M3 will post better times, at least this is what I have seen.

FWIW my references are from the November SCCA magazine.

M3 Vs Corvette Z06

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