BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

[centurion]

Before anybody commits to the E92 M3, read the viewpoints in this issue:

TopGear

I can't find the typed out article for the C63, but the cayman S head to head with M3 is typed out here:

The Cayman Club - I picked up a copy of Top Gear magazine, Nov

The summary:

C63 vs M3 - C63 wins marginally, coz of more power and torque at every engine speed, and the C63 autobox wins out. (duh!)

Cayman S vs M3 - mild vulgarities were used against the M3 here, read the link.

 

[axl]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

The handling of the C63 is rated better than the M3's? Wow... the world is turned on its head.

 

[centurion]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

Could you find the magazine online for the BMW M3 Vs AMG C63? It's really a damming review IMHO. And here was I feeling more comfortable with the M3 ....

OK got it.

Top Gear review and Evo COTY review - BimmerPost - BMW Forums

The Cayman S vs M3 article is also in the M3post thread...

 

[Physicist]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

There's just something in the AMG thats totally unsavoury... Take it with a pinch of salt as with all reviews and comments. One man's meat is another's poison

 

[SMYUEN]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

no matter what the review says, there will be an allure to the M3 no matter how AMG-ed a car is...

AMG beat M3? (thats 6.3 litre versus 4.0 litre... i would be embarassed at such a comparison if I were Merc..think about how much "power" a 4 litre AMG car can churn out)

R8 car of the year????????????? (rubbing eyes... did I miss something...)

oh my my... can we trust these reviews?

 

[centurion]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

whoa guys. My initial post was clear:

Before anybody commits to the E92 M3, read the viewpoints in this issue

Merely read the viewpoints. See whether you agree with them compared to your rea life experiences. That's what test drives are for. Don't take the reviews as the gospel truth.

 

[kenntona]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

R8 car of the year????????????? (rubbing eyes... did I miss something...)

I am surprised too. Last weekend's paper as well.

Same feeling as those pageants when someone unexpectedly won, hands clapping but mind and heart saying KELONG !!!

 

[centurion]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

AMG beat M3? (thats 6.3 litre versus 4.0 litre... i would be embarassed at such a comparison if I were Merc..t

Err... the M3 and the AMG C63 shares the same marketplace, even more so than a GTR does with the M3. I don't get your point. The M3 HAS to compare against the C63 - midsized junior exec supermodel vs midsized junior exec supermodel.

And that 6.3 litre is lighter than BMW's 4L V8 - the external displacement is roughly the same.

 

[centurion]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

I am surprised too. Last weekend's paper as well.

Same feeling as those pageants when someone unexpectedly won, hands clapping but mind and heart saying KELONG !!!

I also don't agree. COTY 2007 MUST be the Mitsubishi Lancer EX at least in Singapore

 

[PerverTT]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

Don't know much about the Merc C63.

Can someone else who knows more about this car tell me how MB managed to stick in a monster 6.2 litre V8 and still allow the car to dance like Michael Jackson? I would have thought that a humungous lump like that would have turned the car into a front heavy understeerer. A sumo wrestler on ice skates comes to mind.

 

[Azrielsc]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

And in Top Gear, JC had to eat the apple that the M3 managed to squash at the apex, something the C63 couldn't do... That was hilarious!

 

[centurion]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

simple 2 reasons:

1) the 6.2L v8 on the AMG is almost a race engine. The weight is lower than the already light 4.0L V8 on the M3.

2) The 6.2L v8 is optimized for V8, that's why everything could be built for output and weight, while the 4L V8 on the M3 is compromised for modularity between V8 and V10.

 

[centurion]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

And in Top Gear, JC had to eat the apple that the M3 managed to squash at the apex, something the C63 couldn't do... That was hilarious!

JC sucks as a driver? I think you give a Proton Persona to stig also can crush apple.

 

[Azrielsc]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

Quite true.... STIG's just awesome! And JC is just hilarious!

 

[PerverTT]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

Thanks for the explanation, centurion.

Then the next question - why would a 6.2 litre be "optimised" for a V8 configuration? I would have thought that anything over 5 litres would be pushing the design envelope to remain in a V8 shell. Surely you would have lower reciprocating masses and better revability if the same displacement was spread over say 10 cylinders, Audi R8 style.

 

[centurion]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

Heck I forgot. I just regurgitating stuff I read from mags written by so called experts. Something to do with flow etc. no need to factor for 2 additional cylinders. The BMW V8 was based on the M5's V10, chop off 2 cylinders and then rework. I guess that had to have certain compromises.

No plans to buy an AMG 63 actually, until they release the pseudo Gullwing machine ... and even then that's unaffordable for me.

 

[eggz]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

So, now the thing is, why wasn't the Stig able to lap the Ascari track in the C63 faster than the M3? it think the difference in lap time was quite a lot, like 2 secs?

 

[axl]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

Why izzit so difficult to accept that Audi's 1st 500k supercar can win COTY actually?

I suspect internal bias might be at play for some...

-> Audi R8 v Porsche 911 v BMW M6 v Prodrive Vantage | Car Group Tests | Car Reviews | evo

 

[centurion]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

Why izzit so difficult to accept that Audi's 1st 500k supercar can win COTY actually?

I suspect internal bias might be at play for some...

-> Audi R8 v Porsche 911 v BMW M6 v Prodrive Vantage | Car Group Tests | Car Reviews | evo

for me I cannot accept the R8 win COTY because it really doesn't drive with full excitement.

 

[eggz]

Re: BMW M3 vs AMG C63 and Cayman S : Topgear Magazine head to head

R8 COTY I think is deserved. Almost every magazine I've read has picked it as their COTY. It won the Autocar handling shootout with the most unanimous result ever. The editor said so himself, that never in the history of the shootout has one car dominated so much. I think out of like 9 judges or something only 1 of them didn't vote the R8 the best handling over all conditions, wet, dry, track and regular roads. Incredible!

Centurion, I believe R8 "doesn't drive with full excitement" because it's not designed to do that. It's designed to be an everyday usable supercar. I think for that purpose it's close to perfection. For max excitement, you'll have to go with a 911 GT2/3 or a F430 Scud.

The R8 is not only COTY, it's the automotive sensation of the year!