BMW M3 Coupe and other BMW models included in the 10 Best Winners for 2011

BMW gained the top spots with different models for Car and Driver magazine’s 10 Best Winners for 2011.

For the 2011 10 Best Foreign Cars We Want category, the BMW M3 GTS gets a well deserved nomination. Car and Driver says: “One of our favorite cars, this M3 has less weight, more power (up to 444 horses from 414), and a fully adjustable suspension. The only thing not to like is its $180,000 sticker.”

For the 2011 10 Best Manuals category, the BMW 1 Series gets a nomination. Why not the 3 Series instead? Car and Driver says: “the 1 has slightly shorter throws. Plus, its well-placed pedals make it a great car in which to teach someone how to properly execute heel-and-toe downshifts.”

Rolls-Royce, another member of the BMW Group, also gets a nomination for 10 Best Design Details due to its Power-Reserve Gauges. “Some companies give you an mpg gauge. Those are for ninnies; we’d much rather know how much reserve grunt we’ve got for dusting chumps. It doesn’t hurt that the R-R gauges reside in some of the most beautiful clusters extant,” according to Car and Driver.

The car of superlatives, BMW M3 Coupe, is named one of the 10 Best Cars for 2011. This “Secret Recipe” takes a much deserved spot this year, just like how it did in the past years. The BMW M3 Coupe consistently makes it to the 10 Best Cars list year after year. Well that is a statement indeed. Here’s why it keeps on making it to the prestigious list:

This year marks the 3-series’ 20th consecutive 10Best win, a feat unmatched by any other vehicle on the market. We won’t call the 3-series perfect, but you know how there’s always one old lady at the bake sale whose recipe everybody wants? The 3-series is that car. The chassis balance is exquisite, with handling that encourages risky behavior but a ride that you wouldn’t feel bad subjecting your grandma to. The fluid steering weights up just right, the brake pedal bypasses the soles of your shoes and goes straight to your brain, and the manual transmission—should you be wise enough to specify it—boasts a shifter that knows its way effortlessly from gear to gear. Plus, all the 3-series’ goodness is available in coupe, convertible, sedan, and even station-wagon forms. Engine choices are a silky inline-six; powerful, turbocharged inline-sixes; and the M3’s screaming, 8400-rpm V-8. The 3-series is rear-drive dynamics perfected, or, for those in colder climes, all-wheel drive is available. The four-wheeler gets a little heavier and amends the 3’s near-perfect weight distribution, but the rest of its virtues remain. Other drawbacks? Only a few. The clutch needs more weight to better convey its takeup, and no matter the configuration, the 3-series is seriously expensive. But there’s a reason people will pay so much more for that one lady’s cookies.

Source: Car and Driver