VIDEO SHOWDOWN: BMW M3 vs. Audi S4

Really impressive performance by the M3 and the Audi, can't wait to see the new M3 go head to head with the new RS4 and hopefully the IS500 when it come out of production.

Lexus

That was some major ownage. The old S4, (not the redesigned 40/60 torque split one) beat the M3 by almost a second on the Top Gear track. It is rediculous how any one (Sunny,tito) can call Audis "inferior" to BMWs. Even more rediculous how they think that the current M3 is better than the new RS4. The new RS4 was about 1:25 on the Top Gear track. Sure, the M3 might be funner to slide the tail (if you have a wideopen runway) but on the regular road (or twisties) it loses. I don't think the regular BMW lovers/Audi haters will post here.

Here is another comparison. This time by Car&Driver (they have been BMW lovers for ever.)

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/6568/the-middleweights-compact-adrenaline-delivery-systems-page4.html

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/6568/the-middleweights-compact-adrenaline-delivery-systems-page3.html

People here need to lighten up about the subject cars. Give me one for every occassion!

mikeg
It's a little expensive to have cars for every occasion. That is why the S4/RS4 is better, you can use it in bad weather.

:)

I also like the sheer elegance of the S4/RS4 more than the M3. It looks and is more cool and collected; it definitely is more mature.

IF you lived in an area with cold and snowy winters, I am sure that your face with read disbelief driving in your friends S4 as the Audi drove through the snow no problem.

No doubt both cars are great performers. The track numbers sure do show that the S4 is a solid performer - even better than the M3 by 1 second. What it all boils down to is this question: What is your style?

This simply proves two things.
1. The S4 is faster than an M3 in the hands of a skilled driver.

2. And due to the more predictable nature of the S4 it is faster than the M3 in the hands of an unskilled driver as well.

I guess that sums it up, in the real world and on the track the S4 is faster. Basically no matter who drives it if they are of the same competency the S4 wins.

For some reason this is a hard pill to swallow for the typical M3 driver on the blog. There are faster sedans than the M3.

List the reasons why the M3 is better.

I fail to see any credentials behind your name that indicate you are an authority on anything. The Audiphiles here always give you proof in the form of URLs but you specifically don't back up anything you say. Sorry big man, but your claims are failing to hold water. Face it, you bought the wrong car if you wanted to be number 1.

I see you alot posting in the Audi posts. If the BMW was that superior, and you are that secure in it, then simply avoid the audi posts. It might lower your blood pressure a few points.

From what I can see on the track at events 90% of the people that drive a car have no clue how to drive it to the fullest extent.

By all means they honestly THINK they can, but in reality it takes a lot of practice and effort to truly wring it out an get even close. Simply driving the car on the street will not prepare you at all for this, you need to drive in a timed situation or event to establish a baseline to improve.

I can't count the time that a M3 or even a Z06 driver is totally humiliated when a Miata spanks them in an autocross. Anyone that has raced has had that happen to them and learns very quickly. It is a humbling experience. Egos get in the way of reality a lot here.

I realize your post was on topic this time, but typically will start a battle when there is nothing to do with BMW. Freedom of speech is fine, but your true strength is freedom to express your ignorance and total lack of education on the issues. I wouldn’t want to take that away from you because you excel in that regard. If you want to see any fools out there, you might want to start by looking in the mirror.

Whoops I forgot...Where are those URLs to back up your facts? Still waiting.

I watched the new E90 in its SWC debut at Mid Ohio. It has great potential, but they had alot of issues that day. The cold track did not help, so at this time it was no match for the front runners.

I agree with you, the appeal to quite a few of the Audiphiles is the sleeper approach.. No need to flash it arounnd for the world to see. And I can also see the BMW appeal of tail out power sliding fun. To me hanging the tail in a power slide out looks great and is fun, but typically is not the fastest way around the corner. Thanks for calling out Sunny as you see him. He is NOT the typical bimmer owner as I know them.

Old video.

This video is about 3 years old.

We all know by now that the S4 is in most ways superior to the M3. I recently ran into an old issue (2003) of Car & Driver which compared the S4, M3, and a Merc. Of course, the S4 won that comparo as well. It's also the same issue that had the RS6 beat the M5.

Autospies should show the recent Fifth Gear video that compares the new RS4 to the new M3 CS. The Audi won that test as well...

CommonSense seems to be confused and blinded by his obsession. Smoking a bit too much of that Infiniti wild weed I guess. I actually like BMW products but like you, when my bucks go on the line Audi is it for me. I have an A4 daily driver and a S4 competition vehicle, he tends to forget that. I Believe he drives actually drives a FX if I remember right.

Infiniti is in a sad state right now. Lack of new models in the first half of the year has killed car sales, and the heavy investment into guzzling SUV’s has them sucking air.

Right now this is the state of Infiniti:

2006 auto sales down 2682 units for a sales decrease of 7.10%
2006 truck sales down 3726 units for a sales decrease of 21.68%

By contrast Audi is :
2006 auto sales up 1926 units for a sales increase of 6.32%

If you subtract out truck sales, (Audi Q7 has no sales yet this year) you can see that Audi has outsold Infiniti 3 out of 5 months so far for 2006. Audi is trailing in auto sales only by 2660 units for the year and is on pace to pass Infiniti.

One thing is for sure Infiniti needs to improve the quality of materials and workmanship to keep up. The QX has the worst record in the SUV industry right now and was named the “Worst Car of 2005” that is not an easy thing to overcome. The new M is selling well, but that also is deteriorating with each month. The new models look very sexy, but the educated buyer easily looks past a pretty face into the soul and buys elsewhere.

Both brands have new models hitting the floor so it will be an interesting to see the race shape up.


QX Article:
http://www.forbes.com/2005/12/14/worst-cars-2005-cx_dl_1215feat_ls.html

I am an Audi enthusiast to be sure. I bet you are a true performance addict in your SUV, get real. Pretty face, but true performance on the track? NOT! I have owned many brands including a G35. I was turned off by the poor quality of materials and the number issues the vehicle had. (the list is extensive) The M45 is a stand out, but I still see the shortcuts taken in materials that plagues the whole line. Currently Infiniti is getting beat on almost every front except acceleration and handling. They need new models quickly to keep up the momentum. They have come a long way from the Grandpa cars they put out a few years back but are not there yet.

I know the G35 is out this year, but where is that touted GTR? It was announced with such big fanfare and then all went silent. Right now almost all of their SUV’s and cars are dated, and the sole bright spot is the M45.

In many ways they are a one trick pony. They have the awesome VQ 6 cylinder for 12 years running as the engine of the year, but none of their other engines are even a blip on the scope. Real engineering will have other indicators from within the lineup not just a one trick pony reincarnated over an over again. Where is an award winning v8, v10, v12 or 4 cylinder in the stable?

Get back to me when you can.

Not driven a RS4 yet. The S4 is a 2.7T that has quite a few mods, it currently is about 330hp at the wheels on the Dyno. The A4 is a Stage II 1.8t that puts out 265hp at the wheels.

The cars are different, hard to compare. One is a lighter, more stripped down RWD coupe with stiff suspension. The other is a more practical AWD sedan. The S4 suspension is not quite as stiff as the M3, but as you can see from the video the S4 has better cornering capabilities and better control due to the AWD, and now the 2006 S4 MT has the 40/60 as well. The M3 is quicker in a straight line and has more available performance mods, but on a dry track with curves the S4 may have a slight edge. If the track is wet the M3 will get toasted, and that's a fact.

What it comes down to is why you want the car. If you need a true every day car, get the S4. If it snows where you live or if you just like the better control of the AWD, especially in rainy weather, get the S4. If you plan on driving long distances, get the S4. If you want a car with more of a race car feel and more avialability of performance mods, get the M3. If you're not going to use the car for lengthy commutes, long distance trips, or hauling lots of friends and kids, get the M3.

I test drove both thouroughly and bought a B7 S4. It's a porker in it's vehicle class, but the AWD does a great job towing the almost 2 ton car around the track as proven in the video. It sometimes snows where I live, hence the AWD, and I prefer the convenience of having a car with 4 doors. My friends and family also like the 4 doors. I also liked the sound of the V8 over the whiny BMW I6. The M3's I6 gets slightly worse gas mileage according to CR and it's a little more expensive to boot. Resale value is a tie according to CR.

I would own both cars if I could. One for the track and one for the other days of the week.

E-S-F,
Though I would go with the A6, the second best choice that usually suit women is the E-class (4-matic), I have been hearing a lot of good things about it so far!!!

The A4 runs a Garrett GT-25 running 20 lbs boost. My biggest limitation in HP is octane, injector size, and a few software tweaks. These will be performed by the end of the summer and it should reach 360-370 at the crank on 93 octane. The little 1.8t is a screamer and these figures are very typical for a streetable APR modified Audi. Find that hard to believe? Just Google it and you will find plenty out there just like it. BTW currently I avg about 25 mpg combined driving.

And to think you thought I was not an enthusiast. You were very wrong.

You have a good set of choices but in your wife's case the X5 might be a good balance there, but she also might find it a bit stark.
The GS would be a good second choice to consider. My wife tends to care far less about overall performance and more about luxury.

I agreed with commonsense! This really was a 666 day!

WTF!! "instantaneously wealthy" ????? you win the lotto or something?