2011 BMW M3 Coupe

this 2011 BMW M3 coupe and it's easy to see why this is the benchmark by which all other sport coupes are measured. The V8 is terrific, and while it peaks at more than 400 hp, it somehow felt even more powerful. With the six-speed manual, you can easily keep the revs in the sweet spot. I found myself driving for a while in third gear, just to hear the great engine note blast out of the quad exhausts.

The attention to detail in the way the car steers and brakes is evident--everything is tight. This is, in effect, a race car. The steering is spot on, the feedback letting you know exactly where the front tires are at any given time. And because this thing is capable of warp speed, the brakes, with the cross-drilled and ventilated rotors that come with the sport package, are outstanding. In freeway driving, you need to realize that you will be able to stop much more quickly--if necessary--than just about anyone else you are sharing the road with.

The transmission has nice short throws to facilitate changing gears. The clutch takeup is also excellent, up near the top of the pedal travel. And the pedals are perfectly spaced for heel-and-toe shifting.
I found the mechanically operated seats to be a pain to try to find a comfortable seating position. For nearly $70K, can I get electrically controlled seats? Would it really add that much weight? And I would love to see BMW come up with a new radio interface for cars without a navigation system and iDrive. The technology there is at least a decadeor more And while interface worksto scroll through the song menu you need a copilot operating the system. It takes so long that if the driver were doing it, you'd be in the ditch way before you found your favorite Willie Nelson tune.Butheythe M3 is about as close to a race car for the street as you can buy, and the driving experience from that standpoint is hard to beat.We've heaped a lot of praise onto the BMW M3 over the years, and deservingly so. From a chassis dynamics standpoint, few companies do it as well as BMW. The suspension keeps it confidently stuck through corners, steering is precise and offers good feedback through the wheel, and ride quality is more than manageable for the times when you're not slinging it around hard. The 4.0-liter V8 has phenomenal throttle response with a stratospheric 8,400-rpm redlineM3 remains the car that other car companies strive to beat in this segment.What I don't agree is the transmission BMW for continuing to offer the M3 with a six-speed manual in addition to pleasing the dual-clutch sequential manual folks by offering a seven-speed box. But I do wish BMW would tune the shifter for a crisper and more precise operation Audi manuals offer way better shift actions, in my opinionThe springy clutch pedal is another thing I'm not high onbut it's just one of those things that you wish could be a tad
 better

This particular 2011 M3 was light on the tech features, which was nice. No iDrive, navigation and satellite radio to fool around I did miss the sat radio a bitThe seats were manuaand I didn't like those at allAttempting to find a comfortable seating position is difficult and the seat themselves don't offer the levels of side support you need in a car like this. A set of sport buckets like what Audi puts in the S4 are sorely neededBut when it comes to the overall driving experience, no other car in this class delivers as strong in all areas as the BMW M3 Mercedes-Benz C63Neither of those offers a true manual gearbox or hasa chassis as well sorted as the BMW's. Sure, they are more powerful. The Lexus's 5.0-liter V8 spits out a smidge more horsepower at 416, while the Benz's 6.2-liter V8 does a good amount more at 451 hp. They both out-torque the295 lb-ft, with the IS-F delivering 371 lbringing up 443 lb-ft.Still, even being outmotored, the BMW isn't too far behind to 60 mph, according to the manufacturer's published performance figures. BMW M3 with the manual transmission reaches 60 mph from a standstill in 4.7 seconds, while the Lexus does it in 4.6 seconds and the Mercedes is the fastest of them all at 4.4 seconds. BMW0-to-60-mph times drop to 4.5 seconds, which would be faster than the Lexus but still slower than the Benz. Of course, does this really matter? It's just splitting hairs here and in the end, all three are really darn fast.The good news for consumers is that all three bring different characteristics to the table. In my opinion, the Lexus is the third-place entry, while the BMW and the Mercedes swap first and second. Sometimes the Benz's throaty V8 and raw power gets me, while at other times I prefer the BMW's balanced attack.