My current one handle 250 bhp much better than the old one did 250, it feels well contained and it doesnt spin up, torque steer and generally misbehave as much as I thought but even so, ride in a 4wd car of the same power it feels almost too contained, I like some traction issues to contend with, though preferable from the rear tyres on a rear driver, not hopelessney like an old 2.8i Capri on Latvian Remounds but the idea that you can unstick it if you really want, I found a 320 bm frustrating in this respect, didnt want to play !

 

I've had a 2000 93 aero Hot (205bhp), with dawes valve to about 250bhp. And whilst I will never underestimate a saab again, I had this car a couple of years ago when I tailed my mates down to le-man in there E46 M3's. With a very spirited drive all the way there and back and whilst the saab could hold its own, the M3's really did pull away ever time, both out of rounabouts and when moving. The saab just kepting spinning up in second on the exit of roundabouts no matter how I tried to control the throttle.

It felt impressive but the loss of traction and difference in power was very noticable over the BWM's. It happily kept up with a 225bhp tt that was also in the convoy, but the beemers were in a different league. An E46 M3 driven in anger is a very formidable car IMO. In the same convoy was also a old 911 turbo with a proven 450/450 and it was quicker than the M3's as you would expect, but the M3's out handled the porker and the M3's wern't destroyed by the 911 even in a straight line.

 

So - I guess linking to the initial question of the thread - I have been shown that an overpowered car is fun in a sphincter shrinking sort of way, but more man vs machine in 3rd gear and above and carefully planning and control at all times. I love it but I know it's not a complete car in any shape or form. Net: The quest for more power can result in less happyness than you expect - entertaining for a while but the car with perfect poise is king in the end ... Just like winning the lottery makes people happy in the sort term but ultimately sad in the end

 

The 911 driver probably didn't want to die, they do handle (if still straight and in good nick) but they demand respect, especially if its an older RWD with no electronics type one, the never ones are idiot proof, did a track experience in one (996) and it soon ran out of ideas and resorted to ESP when I wanted it to play and explore a bit further but I suspect at those speeds it soon ends in a very big accident if you get it wrong.

My Saab, at least in the dry just hooks up and goes, the old one with 100 bhp and 110 lbs ft less was a nightmare in the wet and could get lairy in the dry, god knows what a 250 bhp one was like remember its a Cavalier chassis with some updates, the new ones are night and day different, effective but not much fun. When a company releases a "Rescue Kit" as was available for the Viggen there is something badly wrong.

 

I actually timed mine for once as it's un-dynoed and it did 60-100mph in 4.5seconds in 3rd gear. This was driving 'through' 60 to 100.

As far as I can see this is quicker than a porsche 997 turbo so I'm happy at that. Plenty faster than the M3 and boxter and my car is worth about £2.5k on a good day. Job done?

 

M3's are great cars but all this talk of them having 343bhp is misinformed.

They are supposed to be 338bhp/343ps but I've yet to see a standard one dyno above 325bhp.

 

As the op stated in his original post "not bothered about the top speed" it's the shove in the back he's after it's got to be a 350bhp scoob bang for buck there is nothing that can beat it.
which means a lightly modded jdm sti or a spec c around the o5 mark and he should have no problems finding one for that sort or cash..

 

My old '01 e46 made 338.6 bhp on SRR's dyno Dynamic RR, I believe BMW pulled the power down slightly on the later cars after the big end shell recall of the old cars.

 

[QUOTE=delcbr;8430028]the brakes in my car look awesome big red callipers and drilled discs but.......their ****e even in the other ones i test drove you need to press hard they come accross as normal brakes.

i had a test drive of a mini cooper works which had the works brakes and i nearly went through the windscreen i had no idea they were that good i kept doing emergency stops by accident on the test drive when wanting to slow down for traffic lights they are very sensitive!!!!QUOTE]

I traded in my e46 M3 last December for a '03 Boxster S and have never once thought I made the wrong decision, Don't get me wrong I loved the M3 and it did everything well, but it did not excel at anything in particular and that made it a little boring to me.


I don't think your not using the Bosxter brakes properly, all Porsche brakes operate in a very linear way unlike 99% of cars that are over assisted giving 70% of braking force in the first 20% of the pedal travel and little else from there, if you really start to lean on the Boxsters middle pedal I think you will be very surprised by the braking force it can muster.

 

Oh, another M3, v's evo/scooby thread this turns out to be.

for my 2 pence worth, its about how you get there not how quick your going which should give you the buzz. I found my 9GT with 400/400 very quick indeed but also very sterile, unless on a circuit.

I have a 123d sports coupe as a company car and that is great fun, and has a fair bit of poke, my weekend car will be a FD2 next week which I'm sure will be more fun than any of the 4WD cars I have owned.

I will be swapping to an M3 as daily driver in due course.

And for the guy who said he gets 18mpg on the EVO on a spirited drive I was often seeing single figures....

 

18mpg is my worst ever for a tank which involved some non-commuting use where there was less traffic and you could driver harder. Normal commuting with the occasional overtaking is nearer to 25mpg, however, wherever possible all 400 BHP is used. I don't think 18-25mpg is impressive for a 2.0 (and I have no reason to overstate it!) even though it has three diffs and low compression, but the taller top gear, MIVEC and careful mapping do help compared with earlier Evos. My average is just the same as my E46 M3 was.

 

bleedin ell that is quick!!!!

 

where did you get it remapped ?
i seen an evo that had a sticker on the rear window with a smiley mouth which said dentist mapped have you heard of that i think its a guy from dundee that maps evo's.

 

John probably mapped it himself, he used to map nearly every Subaru in Scotland

 

The dentist is Sam - he cut his teeth on a Link on his Subaru!