I felt like I needed to write about my M3 SMG driving experience otherwise my comments regarding the 2006 Lexus IS350 may lack credibility.. ok, maybe not.. but by far, the most comments I receive are about the statement I made about the 2006 IS350 being able to hang with an E46 M3.. I won’t “take that back” because if you want to bench race the two cars, you’ll see that the IS350 is nearly as fast as the M3.. and being that the IS350 is only available in a 6-speed automatic, I would also bet that if you took your average E46 M3 driver and raced an IS350, I’d go so far as to say 7 out of 10 times, I’d bet the IS350 would win.. now, the M3 SMG may be a different story though.. which leads me into the point of this post..

A few weeks ago, I got the opportunity to drive my friend’s 2003 (I think) BMW E46 M3 SMG. It has some coil-over suspension (don’t ask me what) and he had some 19″ HREs.. dunno the width or offset, but the rear was FAT and had an almost obscene amount of lip.. anyhow.. the SMG was definitely different.. it was hard to get used to the idea of shifting, but without a clutch.. perhaps the fact that I’ve been driving an automatic trannie for the past year made it a bit easier, but it was still weird.. one thing I learned, which I never knew.. was that the.. umm.. shifting was adjustable.. I dunno what BMW calls it, but basically, you can adjust the trannie to shift hard or soft.. when I first went for a ride, I thought the shifting was crappy.. now I know.. so I take all those bad thoughts back about the SMG..

Anyway, once I got on the main road I got on it.. at first, I was really granny shifting it.. trying to get a feel for the trannie.. I made a right on to a deserted road (new home construction area) and got on it again.. this time though, shifting more aggressively.. I can’t remember what the “shifting” was set to.. but I do recall telling my friend that the shifting was very solid and precise.. like, no clutch slippage.. nothing.. in fact, it felt like the driveshaft or rear diff was going to launch itself out from behind the car.. really bone jarring.. but in an good way.. second thing I noticed was the music of the 3.2L I6.. my first thought was that it sounded like a racecar.. there was a fair amount of valvetrain noise.. more than I thought there’d be, but I think it all just added to the musical redline.. I never got to test out its handling.. but the car did feel firm and solid.. I didn’t drive it long enough to witness the phenomenon known as “the ultimate driving machine” though.. I was having too much fun slamming the gears without really slamming the gears.. oh, and it was really torquey.. I remember that.. it pulled really strongly and really steadily..

How does it compare to the 2006 Lexus IS350? Like I said before.. if I were offered the choice, I wouldn’t hesitate in reaching for the BMW keys (and not just because it costs more :mrgreen:).. on paper, the IS350 is almost as fast.. but I agree, that’s where the comparison ends..

Just for kicks, here, again, are the specs:

2006 Lexus IS350 (6 speed automatic) as tested by Car & Driver October 2005 issue:
0-60 MPH : 5.1 seconds
0-100 MPH : 12.8 seconds
1/4 mile : 13.7 @ 104 MPH

2005 BMW M3 (as tested by Car & Driver):
0-60 MPH : 4.8 seconds
1/4 mile : 13.6 seconds (Edmunds.com said they hit 105 MPH in the quarter mile)

Speaking of specs.. I just received word my boss-boss ordered a Bugatti Veyron 16.4.. yeah, THAT car.. 1001 metric hp (like 986 standard hp), W16 quad-turbo, 0-60 in less than 3 seconds.. 0-188mph in 14 seconds.. now thats cool.. oh, and a top speed of somewhere around 256mph or something like that.. I’ll take pics on delivery day, whenver that is.. hopefully I’ll get to drive it.. because as of right now, the most expensive car I’ve ever driven was his old Ferrari 456GTA (a measly $230k)..

Just for the record, he currently owns, I believe:

2004 Porsche Carrera GT
2006 Ferrari F430 Spyder
2005 Mercedes McLaren SLR
2003 Aston Martin Vanquish
2003 Mercedes S600 - the daily driver

I’m not sure about the years.. but all the cars were purchased new.. I’d also like to drive the Carrera GT (I heard it take off once and it sounded like a motorcycle) and the F430.. not too thrilled about the SLR or the Vanquish though..

Ok, enough about cars for the night..

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