garychios

The e-46 M3 will eat all 993's NA without a problem. It is a much faster car with alot more power.

Also, I think the m3 is a much better car, especially for the money. So the neighbor guy who blew his motor, should learn not to down shift into the wrong gear. Human error is not cause for warranty. All new cars have data loggers now, so **** like that will not be covered.

My e46 is awesome, the 993 has a older nostalgic feel. Factory for factory, the e46 with sport package outhandles a Porsche 993. I am sorry guys.. I own both

mnmblu

I think many of us know the feeling.

Go to the top of your page, and click on "Private messages" under Welcome Riviera 93. Click on edit avtar on your left. Go to bottom of page and hit browse. Pick the file of your car that you have already copied and pasted, let's say on your desktop, and select it. I think that should do it.
And thanks for the nice words.

ammo_collector

Hey Gary, my neighbor who blew his motor had a SMG. I thought SMGs did not allow over-revving when downshifting... I could be wrong though.

mnmblu

And which car do you feel better driving? Nuff said, end of story...

mrsullivan

i agree with your acceleration and value comments, but for raw feel and handling stock for stock, i could not disagree more...

CP

Numerical numbers aside, if I was on the twisties in the moutains, the 993 is a lot more fun than an M3, that's a given.

CP

abar

E46 M3s are very slow on the track, look at some of the best of motoring and they get beat by much slower cars due to excess weight and poor brakes. Having driven them and the euro E36 M3 Evo, still reckon the only decent drivers car after the E30 M3s is the E39 M5. Just driving one earlier, fantastic road car.

IMHO CSL aint much better unfortunately, my mate bought one to go with his 996C4S. Just no comparision so it went after a few months. Lost lots of money on in though as the demand for the CSL has just evaporated over here.

I've seen at least a dozen E46 M3s today, quite a few 996s but the last 993 I saw was mine on the weekend.

Al.

Rezal

I considered an E46 M3, test drove one, and left feeling unemotional. I wanted a car that not only felt like a sportscar but also had the aura of one. The M3 is a GT first, sportscar second. The 993 is a sportscar that just happens to be liveable, albeit without the doodads (and weight penalty).

Of course then there's the owners, or rather the maturity level, but we're getting off topic here...(hint: go hang out at roadfly.com and you'll understand what I mean).

Speedraser

Ammo, you are correct -- the SMG will not allow a downshift that will over-rev the engine, and there is a rev-limiter to prevent over-revving on the way up; e46 M3 engines blew because there was a PROBLEM with them, NOT because the drivers missed a shift. Gary is right about one thing, though -- the "data logger." These showed that the engines were not over-revved, and that the failures were not the fault of the drivers. That is why the engines WERE replaced under warranty and why BMW had to extend the engine warranty to (I believe) 100,000 miles.

If one looks at the magazine road tests, one will see that there is relatively little difference between a 993 Carrera and the e46 M3, 0-60. The M3 does 0-100 between one-half of a second to one second quicker than the 993. So, the M3 is quicker in a straight line, but the difference is fairly small. Of course, the M3 is governed to 155, so at some point the 168-171 mph 993 Carrera will blow right on by the M3...

993RS

A German magazine ran a comparison between a 993 C4S and an M3 (321 hp) in 1996.

Here is the link: test

Bottom line: They said that the M3 out-accelerate the C4S but was slower on the Hockenheim racetrack, which is what has been said by other posters here.

abar

Phil,
I know later euro 96 onwards varioram models had the G20 gearbox and were quite a bit slower on accleration, did any C4S get produced with the G21? Presumably all C2S are G20?

Just wondering as performance car got 0 - 60 in 4.7 from a G21 '96 993 C2 and the later C2S was half a second slower to sixty: http://www.lotusespritworld.com/ERoa...Car_Aug97.html

Al.

B-Line

If all I wanted was performance I would have kept my modded Audi S4. That thing had 320+ hp, Stoptech brakes, bypass valves, full set of samco hoses, chip, exhaust, I used to pass Pcars all the time.
Then you know what happened, I got bored. The car was so easy to drive fast, there was no challenge. You point the car in a direction, hit the gas, go. If your cornering too fast, Lift, the nose tucks back in and your back on line..
After two years of tracking, i couldn't wait to dump the S4. I picked up a 993 C2S and the difference was night and day. I gave up about 40HP, all wheel drive, 4 doors and a real trunk.
I never looked back. The Pcar was a way better choice despite the loss in acceleration. Now I have a car that I need to drive. I can't just point and steer. The Pcar needs a lot more driver concentration and execution and the return on that investment is a more rewading experience.

If all we're looking for is speed vs. cost, etc.. then we would all be on the seat of a Suzuki Ninja. What do they cost, $10K.. and they do 0-60 in what? 2.3 sec..
But they ain't no Porsche..

Surj-993C2S

Latest on the E46 M3 engine kaputt issue is that BMW AG have submitted a recall for all S54 engined M3s and will reduce the rev limit upon completion of the work - I know which car I'd rather have!

I actually bought my 993 as a stop gap while I was waiting for my M3 CSL order to come through - fell in love with the 993 and the rest is history.

Have had a fair fews runs with M3s and ZM3s and even in the acceleration stakes, I dont feel left behind - esp after the LWF job!!

Christer

Straightline speed must favour the M3, if you look at the the power to weight ratio - the E46 M3 has around 4.58kgs per HP, whilst the 993 (Varioram) has about 4.77kgs per HP - so not much there. When you start going round corners the extra 200kgs (440lbs) can't be much fun. Torque peaks at only 268lb/ft as well although I guess the curve is reasonably flat with Double V-Anus or whatever they use these days.

You can always just mod your car. I did, and had no problems outrunning an M3 from 60 through 110mph on Sunday.

Its a fast saloon. Thats it.

tdf360

I own one, and I haven't heard that...sources?

Gary