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Legacy GT Vs. E46 M3


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So my best friend has an 03 M3, carbon black manual, what a sweet car. We've taken it on a roadtrip from NJ-Miami, up to Vt, love it! Anyway so we were on 23 last night did a launch from a light, My clutch slipped the whole way through 1st just staying at 6k, damn what a smell, poor car.

 

He's not the best at launching and had snows on, I was ahead until 70, after that he pulled. 2nd gear roll not even funny, 3rd gear roll even worse, 4th I let off after about 2 seconds. I knew what the outcome would be, just wanted to have some fun. Seems like the faster you start the race from the worse off it is with these 2 cars. To make it worse my friend in the passenger seat goes "duude you should have kept your chipped S4" i said yo stfu, it would have either been stolen or had blown turbos by now.

 

Anyway, that's my "lose" story, it's a little early so don't mind the rambling. These cars sure are fun.

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you know it! We pulled up to the light and we just looked at eachother and laughed. It was all for fun, all of us knew what would happen. I gotta say the M3 at 7500 rpms and the LGT at 6000, what a nice combo! I'll get a vid next time we go at it.

 

 

Alright I'll have pics soon.

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I've been wondering how close it would be. One of my close friends has an E46 M3, with quite a few mods. I've driven it and it ungodly fast. I figured it would be close in a short distance race, say up to 1/8 mile, but if we went to 1/4 mile or more, he'd anihilate me. Seems like your experience backs that up. My other "challenge" will come from my cousin's E46 323is. Stock, I'd kill him, but he now has a 7 psi intercooled supercharger kit installed. I think that should make him close to M3 fast, but not quite. I think my stock LGT on 19's can make it a driver's race up to a 1/4 mile.
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I've been wondering how close it would be. One of my close friends has an E46 M3, with quite a few mods. I've driven it and it ungodly fast. I figured it would be close in a short distance race, say up to 1/8 mile, but if we went to 1/4 mile or more, he'd anihilate me. Seems like your experience backs that up. My other "challenge" will come from my cousin's E46 323is. Stock, I'd kill him, but he now has a 7 psi intercooled supercharger kit installed. I think that should make him close to M3 fast, but not quite. I think my stock LGT on 19's can make it a driver's race up to a 1/4 mile.

 

c'mon boys.

 

let's get real.

 

the e46m3 is a fantastic car. but it's really the same speed at the STi. basically the STi is neck and neck with it until triple digits where it will pull away (the M3 has much better gearing for the top end).

 

but it is by no means "legendary". 262ft-lbs of torque in a car that weighs 3450 pounds. not exactly something to fawn over and drool.

 

it is educational that the legacy GT cannot hold a candle to the s4 or m3 bone stock, but it's always another point of fact that the legacy GT is faster than the e36m3 (US spec) and the 2000 vintage S4.

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Santa brought my wife an Outback XT limited. (He brought me the note!) My car is an '02 M3. The Subaru 2.5 Turbo is certainly the most fun you can have at half the price. We needed all wheel drive and ground clearancem and chose it over BMW's X3 because of price, dependability and power. At some speeds, say accelerating when its already on the turbo, like at 50 in 4th, the Subaru feels quicker than my car. But the M3 power delivery is dramatically smoother, with no turbo lag, all the way up to its 7900 rpm redline. And there is no comparing the handling, not even to the Legacy GT. The M3 carves curves like a surgeon uses a scapel, it seems to read your mind and go exactly where you want it. Flinging it around mountain curves beats SIx Flags all to hell. Brakes are superb and equally intuitive. Shifter, too.

 

In every intutive way, the BMW is a better drivers car. Except for driving in snow, everything the Subaru does well, the M3 does better. But after spending $2k on the 50,000 mile service, was I tempted to trade it for a Legacy? damned straight. With the possible exception of the G35, its the Japanese car closest to BMW performance and handling available at a reasonable price. I'm glad we have one, and if they make an STi version, We'll probably have to get another.

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Thanks M3Man for your comments. Yes, the M3 is a great car but not for the price. Still, those who buy them new are very rich so they don't care. I do really wonder though if the GT with good tires can beat the M3 around slippery sharp corners. AWD must be better than the fancy stuff on the M3 that compensate for slippage.
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M3 > LGT. Why bother?

However the STi will rip an M3 a new one from a dig to prison speeds. When Subaru decides to stop teasing us and release an STi Legacy, then it would be real comparison. But as for now, stock for stock the RE92s is the downfall of all USDM Subarus (except the STi...cus it doesn't come with it.) :D

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G'Day M3Man good to see that you finally made it over here.............

 

Well being also a MOD in the M3Forum, I have to chose my words very carefully here I suppose. The Scooby is a wonderful car, the M is a sensational ride, both made for different purposes. One is Turbo, the other is I6 NA and now 5 years old. So for a chassis and engine to be still canning nearly 95% of all new and old roadcars, its not bad. If we were to put new against new as in the E90 M due in Q4 '06 Im sure the story here would be a lot different.

 

I hear what some of the memebers are saying, if you MOD the GT you would walk but the same would hold true for the M. Put an STi up against it ???? Still IMHO, the M would walk with NO TROUBLES. But if you want to put top of the line against top of the line, well lets challenge the STi to a fight with the CSL............

Adam.

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wouldn't the equivalent of the CSL be the Spec C STi? In that case, a magazine called EVO did a comparo and the Spec C schooled the CSL in pretty much all the performance tests.

 

http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread/t-23355.html

 

Head over to imprezawrxsti.com and u'd come across various M3 owners who either owned an M3 and an STi or traded it in for an STi. Again, bear in mind that USDM STi has alittle more cajones than RoW STi due to that extra 0.5l. YMMV.

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Thanks M3Man for your comments. Yes, the M3 is a great car but not for the price. Still, those who buy them new are very rich so they don't care. I do really wonder though if the GT with good tires can beat the M3 around slippery sharp corners. AWD must be better than the fancy stuff on the M3 that compensate for slippage.
The cars that match the M3 in performance offer an interesting value mix. The STi , Lancer and Cobra cost less, but are $30k plus cars that look and feel like $15k econoboxes inside. The Z-03 isn't quite as cheap, but you have to want to be seen in a Vette. Everything else, besides the S4, costs dramatically more. And most of the money is going for nameplate and style. A 911 doesn't feel 30 grand better than the M3 to me, and that Mazeratti is nowhere close to 40 grand nicer.

 

For $52k on an M3, you get state of the art traction control, xenons, extra soft and rich feeling nappa leather, perhaps the worlds best 6 cyl, and 0-60 in 4.7. And it holds its resale value, so I would disagree that its not a good buy. To get signicantly better performance, you're looking 911 turbo territory, 100k plus.

 

Whats great about the Legacy is that you can get near M3 performance, and it doesn't feel cheap. It feels like quality. To me, its a value home run.

 

 

But the magic in BMW handling doesn't come from the electric gizmos. It actually restricts the car by dialing in more understeer. The magic is just superb chassis engineering. In the dry, I'm not sure that AWD really handles better that RWD. And since our car in an Outback on stock tires, I have no way to really evaulate the Legacy chassis at its best. An LGT on Bridgestone S-03's would probably handle plenty good 95% of the time. I have a hard time finding roads that will challenge the M3 handling envelope. Im thinking once the M3 is paid off, I'll garage it and save if for special occasions, and get an LGT for my daily driver.

 

 

Those who hate Subi Bridgestones as much as I do might be interested to know my last 3 BMW's came with equally crappy Continentals. WHY DO THEY DO THIS TO US?

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I'm surprised you didn't get hte Michelin Pilot Sports on your M. My 330 came with them from the factory but not everyone gets them which is wierd.

'05 Black Legacy GT Wagon 5-spd

'02 Topaz/Black 330Ci 5-spd

 

Drift Ryder's School of Rally Arts, coming to an Australia near you.

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hmm i love my leg, with the mods i have i have no doubt that i would school a m3 in a straight line at jsut about any speed (stock of course)

 

is the m3 more of a luxury sports car? DUH

 

i think for the value the legacy is a helluva deal, with just an up pipe, down pipe and reflash i retain stock volume, and gain a boat load of power..

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school an M3? I sure hope your LGT would have more than just an up/dp + reflash. Short spurts maybe. But on highway runs... i doubt it. Too much parasitic drivetrain loss due to awd system. let's not end up like the 350Z crowds that think their car can beat anything out there.

cheers!

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But it already has.. I did buy one after all. I always thought owning an M3 would be kind of embarrasing *shrug*
Its only embarrassing until you wrap your hands around the steering wheel. Then, you're smiling too much to worry about it.

 

As for the luxury question, its not so much luxury as quality. The feel of each part and how well they all work together, whether its high speed braking, high end excellerating, or just the sound when you close the trunk. I am amazaed at how close the Subaru is on many of these fronts, considering its price.

 

Between $25k and $50k, there are no 2 cars I'd rather own.Except maybe an Audi S4. Which is what you'd get if an M3 and an LGT had a baby.

 

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