dickycox

Quick one for you would a m3 e46 be quicker than my escos t34 green injectors rs 500 intercooler and the other bits and bobs,never been on the rollers but should be 340 bhp plus cheers.

xr2i-carl

340HP at the fly?

similar to the M3 then, although the M3 has less tranny losses as 2WD. From a standing start id day you would muller it.

Rolling start i rekon the M3 would pull away over 90-100mph.

Mr.T

You do know you drive a ford dont you

cossie4i+

iTrader: (15)

The M3 will have it

Steve

vroooom ptssssh

So yours is stg3 basically? A good stage 3 will be 330bhp@fly you'll have more tranny losses than the M3, but he wont have as much torque as your turbo'd lump!

RWD_cossie_wil

iTrader: (9)

The M3 will be quicker. My mates 4x4 saff is live mapped (MSD) on T34.48/blacks etc, std engine std head. We were pulling away slightly on a E46 m3 on the way back from castle coombe, from 60-160Mph we were just quicker all the way, so I would say anything less than 380ish BHP in a 4x4 Cos and you will struggle.

mozzy

I have been in a subaru gay imprezza with 309 bhp and rich mullered the M3 compleltley

dickycox

Thats what i was thinking .

xr2i-carl

Then the M3 driver either wasnt trying or the driver of it was shocking. 309HP at the fly aint gonna go anywhere near a e46 m3.

m4tt274

iTrader: (2)

i borrowed an e46 m3 for a week. it wasnt that quick. a 300hp anything would stay with it. m3 very heavy

fuzzy

my touring was equal to an e46 m3 right up to 120 mph from a standing start and mine was only at 282bhp and 1300kg. if id been at stage 3 at the time i would have beaten the m3 easily i reckon..

GUZZLER

iTrader: (3)

i was meant to be running my escos in when i had a tear up with an E46 M3, 24psi of boost & gear shifting at 5.5-6k & he would get away a bit at first but i reeled him in a bit when on boost, gutted i didn't have full boost & revs
i reckon he done me

mozzy

trust me bud, he was trying, it went on for nearly an hour messing about and the e46 never once got passed or pulled away than the subaru on the way back form cornwall, i had brown trousers by the time they finsihed playing. I had a 321 bhp m3 evo e36 and even that being lighter than the e46 was unimpressive to be honest. I had a 330 ise and that was crap to.... i know in the real world there bloody good cars but i dont like them,
e46 M3s are deffo not what there cracked up to be look at the performance action day, they were pants getting over taken by everything on the track, until the M3 owner showed that rwd BMWs are no good on the track with a crap driver lol by hitting the tyre wall and ripping his rear wheel off etc.

the best thing is richs subari stands him in at 700 notes

WongRS

iTrader: (11)

My saff (55ibs, t34.48 ETC) pulled slightly on a new shape M3, the new new V8 one, are they quicker than the E46?

xr2i-carl

Track day's are down to the driver mate at the end of the day. E46 M3 drives very well around a track. CSL is in another league.

E46 M3 does 0-100mph in 12 ish secs.

An M3 needs its neck rung, and to be driven like a tosser to be quick on track or road. Shift 1000-1500rpm to early and its not quick

fuzzy

400bhp in a v8 in the new m3 iirc...

xr2i-carl

Yes mate they are. Although again a car where you need to be so aggressive with to be quick.

Ive only ever seen one go into the 12's before with a good driver. Was a DC-T one also.

BM08

The m3 would have it, as above

mozzy

And show me 1 BMW M3 engine between e36 anf e46 that ever actually has manafactuers claimed output...... none. love the new V8 one but your under false illusions about the old M3 there not all there cracked up to be

pani_k

iTrader: (1)

E46 M3 will have problems with a 300+ BHP Evo or Impreza imo especially off a standing start and not getting into 3 figure speeds. Remember Evos and Imprezas generally do sub 5 second 0-60 with 280-290bhp. Anything over that, M3s will be having issues.

RWD_cossie_wil

iTrader: (9)

People are missing the fact that a turbo car gives you a huge midrange torque spike, where as an M3 etc you have to wring its neck and be in the top of the powerband all the time to go quickly .. It is a lot easier to get the best out of a car like a cossie/evo/scoob than an M3 IMHO, especially on the road where you have lots of factors to take into account.

S3an

had both at the same time, escos 358 bhp an e46 m3 345 bhp. i can honestly say one car against the other, upto 60/70 mph the escos was ahead but once above that speed the M3 soon caught up and overtook the escos, the escos was all out at about 158 mph where as the M3 pulled up all the way to 175 mph, The M3 power was very deceiving and although you felt you were getting pinned to the seat in the escos the M3 wouldnt be far behind.

Danny @ Enhanced Performance

iTrader: (3)

always realy liked the e46 much better everyday car than a cossie but like said to get them going you have to ring them to death..would it beat a well set up cossie around 330 bhp??simple no!!my mate was in a saph that just recorded 342bhp and he cant drive like me and i had a lot of trouble having it with him..cheers danny

rossco22

I raced an e46 m3 a while back in my stage 3 rwd saff 326 bhp (fly), And we were neck an neck upto about 100mph.... i may have had a very small advantage but it wasnt enough to get past / over take it....

stu21t

i have raced lots of cossies in my m3 and beaten them easily,
but then ive lost to a couple to lol..
raced about 4-5 mates in stage 3 setups and didnt have a problem with them
raced a couple of 400+ cossies and again beat them, owners always pull over to ask what the hell my car is and if its supercharged lol.
its an e36 m3 gt and it goes really well.
i should have it back on the road as soon as i sell my other m3 and then tax/test it.

fuzzy

a quick look at some internet specs shows the e46 m3 weighing in at 1570kg. thats mighty heavy and 250kg heavier than my touring. that would explain why my stage1 was a equal match from a standing start.

focus st2

That M3 driver must have been useless. There is no way i'm gonna believe that an impreza with that power mullered an M3 I've driven countless M3's and impreza's i know which was quicker in a straight line. Obviously the suburu would easily win on a twisty road but in a straight line, NO WAY!

Kam B

escos will spit one out of its exhaust pipe. My mates MAD stg 3 escos trounced a F355 Ferrari 3 times - owner was about to cry

M3 needs to be thrashed to get its performance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGIGsTfxGS0

xr2i-carl

I cant see an old imprezza beating an E46 M3 around the twisties.

FletchCossie

iTrader: (4)

I raced a slightly modified E46 M3 from 40 upwards and he sat on my bumper. I had 414bhp and he was in my slip stream.

Dlatch!

the E46 M3 does go very well indeed but as my mate found out most 300bhp jap turbo's kick his bum

Lamb Souvla

I think you will find most of the older subarus and evos have short ratios 1 to 4 so up to 100-120 they are gonna be very quick.
If you have a good stage 3 4x4 cossie, 350bhp plus then you should be on par with the M3 to around 110 odd but from there I the M3 will move away, its does high speed better end of. 2wd cossie is different, you should have a edge on them for sure.

rb5371

iTrader: (4)

I had a 300bhp 310lbft uk classic impreza and 2 mates with e36 M3's i could muller them from a standing start but once up to about 60-80 mph they would come past like i had stopped.
Raced like this many times always the same outcome like a few people have said you have to ring a M3's neck to get the best out of it but once on song you would need a serious car tobeat one.

Matthew

DangerousBryan

i know mine is the shape before(e36 evo) but i have more or less matched an evo 6 makinen from 20 to 100. he pulled away a bit at the beginning but i was reeling him back in up near 100mph.

STUCOS

iTrader: (8)

Used to have an early m3 evo,they had the alloy doors,same as m3 gt's .thought it was a spot on car,very sure footed and went very well out of the box,handled better than a cossie,stopped better than a cossie,all in all a better car in my opinion,and wasnt slow,sounded awsome at 7k revs,if i ever sell or break my saff,i will have another ,probably an e46 m3,just wish i could afford a csl,

cheeRS stu

dom123

iTrader: (1)

ive seen a e46 m3 on a dyno and it made 306bhp only had 60k on the clock. its the escos transmission loss that would worry me.. it about 125bhp loss at wheels a rwd is about 60bhp loss...

CRAIG HAYTER

the escos would lauch quicker would be close thoughi had both cars i think the m3 has plenty of torque but with the escos being turbo charged will boost past if the engine has had a good set up on stg 3

Mr Brannen

I had an SMG E46 Convertible and I was bowled over by how hard it pulled, I must say I think a hard top SMG one would nack a stage 3 Cossie, its the 50-140 that would catch the Cossie out when M3`s are awesome in that range, Ive had 2wd saffs,4wd ones and an Escort Cossie as well but the 46 M3`s are a bit special, if i had to sum up i would have said my 2wd 380 bhp Saff Cos would have had too much for my M3 but anything less and its gonna struggle, 4wd Cossies....forget it.

Mr Brannen

Im sure my Cousin ben will come on here and confirm above, we were both shocked at how well my M3 went, and im not easily impressed.

Harris.

I was all over the arse end of a m3 on the way home from donnington. in the end he shot from the fast lane to the slow lane and undertook to get away. plus i borrowed one a few weeks ago and i got to say there not all that fast . they just look good !