Lotus Exige S 240 pwned

I'm not aware perfectly of the price differences here, but why the Corvette or M3? Both were in the bottom half of the pack with the M3 in 8th in the final tally. Is it just that much cheaper to make up for it?
 
M3 is quite a bit cheaper...Lambo is absurd...the Nissan's the best value but hard to find.
 
There's quite a few nice performance vehicles they didn't test and the differences in some of the tests are fairly small. I don't really see buying an M3 if you're thinking lotus exige or vice versa.
 
That GT-R is something else.

Tens of thousands less than the competition, hundreds of pounds more in weight and lesser displacement/torque than either the Viper or the GT-2 and yet it still is barely tenths of seconds slower on some tracks and faster on others.

I am saving my pennies for one down the road. If I get a windfall, maybe even the V-Spec :D

Regarding the Exige, I am sure even with it's lower top-end performance, it is still one of those cars that simply rocks to drive :D

Fun-factor is a big part of the driving experience :)

@ Digi-Wan Kenobi, which trim of M3 are you looking at?
 
BMW m3 isn't particularly fast, and it never has been, its a great great great car, but its way to underpowered, just like the previous one, just not enough power to be a great fast car.
 
M3 beats the crap out of any corvette. And speed is not the only thing in a car which is important, it's got a fantastic suspension and steering and razor-sharp handling.

They're my competiton BTW, so this is an honest compliment with no envy.
 
M3 beats the crap out of any corvette. And speed is not the only thing in a car which is important, it's got a fantastic suspension and steering and razor-sharp handling.

They're my competiton BTW, so this is an honest compliment with no envy.

Corvettes are pretty good nowadays though, cheap and very fast on a track too.
 
M3 beats the crap out of any corvette. And speed is not the only thing in a car which is important, it's got a fantastic suspension and steering and razor-sharp handling.
In what circumstances though?

Maybe on the road, but on a track where all these tests take place, I doubt it would beat any Corvette.
 
Factor Five GTM? Might build one if the wife gives the thumbs up. So probably won't build one. :(
 
In what circumstances though?

Maybe on the road, but on a track where all these tests take place, I doubt it would beat any Corvette.
On the track where tests take place, though, you definitely have the advantage of a driver who is light years beyond any average enthusiast Joe in driving skill. One thing that BMW does so well on the M series is making a car that handles the way you'd think it ought to and have it tell you exactly what you need to do to manage the oversteer, understeer, hop, etc. It's just so much more straightforward to figure out the limits of a car like the M3 (assuming you have *some* skill within reason, of course). This is something that American manufacturers aren't really so good at (at least not on purpose, anyway). American manufacturers are almost exclusively answering to the thinking of American drivers who assume that the universal answer to all automotive shortcomings is just more cubic inches. I think it's well within the realm of possibility that a lesser driver could get more out of the M3 more easily than they could out of a Corvette. The Corvette does kind of naturally strike me as if it would be more of a shrew to tame (though I'd expect the Viper to be a lot worse in that respect), but a test driver with a racing background should have nary a problem with it, and then the power becomes useful.
 
In what circumstances though?

Maybe on the road, but on a track where all these tests take place, I doubt it would beat any Corvette.

In any circumstances besides driving in a strictly straight line on a dry, even track. Corvette doesn't even have ESP IIRC. BMW will dance pirouettes around it on any course with curves.

SMM: it is indeed a matter of phyllosophy/prefernce, pretty much all american cars are built towards comfort and rather soft suspension, even the "sporty" ones. It's not like Americans can't build good cars, it's just another focus.

Viper is horrible to handle, you can hardly keep it on track. Still a sexy car with lots of power, just that you won't win any races with it.
 
The problem with that test is that it is all about performance and not enjoyment. There's more to enjoying a car than just g forces, either front/back or left right. For instance the the exige has the best steering feel.

I guess as a pure track car your importance might be more on the g forces, but then again you'd simply by a Radical/Ariel and blow them all away.

Anyone buying a street car because it beats some other street car on track is nutz.
 
In any circumstances besides driving in a strictly straight line on a dry, even track. Corvette doesn't even have ESP IIRC. BMW will dance pirouettes around it on any course with curves.
.

Forgetting Le Mans races and Nurburgring lap times of course :)
 
Corvette has become a great car recently, and is one of the few U.S. cars that handles turns really quite admirably.

I noticed that a lot of these cars are in modern computer games ... I'm of a mind to sort of repeat this test in GT5:prologue on all six available tracks. Who's with me?
 
In any circumstances besides driving in a strictly straight line on a dry, even track. Corvette doesn't even have ESP IIRC. BMW will dance pirouettes around it on any course with curves.

SMM: it is indeed a matter of phyllosophy/prefernce, pretty much all american cars are built towards comfort and rather soft suspension, even the "sporty" ones. It's not like Americans can't build good cars, it's just another focus.

Viper is horrible to handle, you can hardly keep it on track. Still a sexy car with lots of power, just that you won't win any races with it.

There is so much wrong information here I don't know where to begin.

M3's are lap traffic to Z06's on tracks with curves.
 
Oh, please elaborate. We have a Viper here and used the chassis as mules (aggregate carriers) for the development of our new drivetrain, so feel free to tell me about that "wrong info" :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

As for Z06, it surely _is_ a nice car for the money, but technically it's about where BMW was 15 years ago.
 
Back
Top