E92 M3 vs 996 Turbo

[911p]

I know I'll be opening a can of worms here; however, M3 vs 996T is a widely debated subject - yet there is still no specific thread on PH about it. It would be nice to have a specific thread to be easily searched for, so many PHers can get thoughts on this subject.

Which one would you take on a budget of £30,000? Is the M3 a better car for our roads? Is the 996 Turbo king, or is it just "too good" at everything to be enjoyable? I'd love to hear everybody's thoughts on this.




Fire away!

[haggy]

That M3 looks good with smaller wheels!

[fatwomble]

M3s are a bit slow

[r1ch]

Always the 911 for me. To me its a more special car and i'd much rather have it on the drive than the m3.

[haggy]

fatwomble said:

M3s are a bit slow

I had the better of an elise many times in mine

[Mardybum]

I'd give my right nut for either but the turb is just more special.

[Diderot]

One is a lardy repmobile with a big engine.

[fatwomble]

haggy said:

fatwomble said:

M3s are a bit slow

I had the better of an elise many times in mine

Not mine though

[coley20]

I think that the M3 would be easier to live with day to day, and the 996 looks a bit dated now, however I would probably still go for the Porsche I think

[Rich_W]

Do you ever have to carry 4 adults? Do you need a large boot? What about a Z4M?

[e12mat]

What are you going to use it for?, the M3 is far more practical but the 911 will be more special.

The M3 will probably cost slightly less to run given it is newer.

[andyroo]

Was in London yesterday and saw about eleventy billon 996 turbos. They look so boring and a touch dated, especially the interior, which looks like it was donated from a Ford Ka. The driving experience may make up for that, but the single M3 I saw looked a lot more imposing, and it has the proper amount of cylinders too.

[obscene]

Diderot said:

One is a lardy repmobile with a big engine.

And one can carry 4 people in reasonable comfort.

Edited by obscene on Saturday 9th October 19:42

[marcosgt]

Do I have to choose one?

OK - then I guess it'd be the Porsche - 911 Turbo still says something to me.

M3's a great car, but not special enough to trump a Porsche 911 Turbo, imo.

M

PS In reality, I wouldn't spend £30K on either.

[Matt UK]

911 without a doubt

[CarbonM5]

M3 has a better engine,is newer/cheaper and easier to own,easier to slide around at lowish speeds which is why id choose it.

911 is older, more desirable to people not in the know,probably quicker in the right hands,horrid interior,but it is still a 911 turbo.

[Wills2]

I've owned an E92 M3 and now have a 911 (but not a turbo) and frankly you can't go wrong with either can you? Both brilliant and would be a welcome addition to anyone's driveway surely.....

Get the M3 if you need the space and like the thought of 8400rpm in a 414bhp NA V8 (it does sound great and the engines as good as anything really)

Get the porsche if you want the torquetastic twin turbo rush and that great 911 driving experience.....

Its all good....

[911p]

The reason I'm asking this question is because I'm just wondering if the Turbo is just too quick for our roads now. My uncle has a 996 Turbo S, which has been remapped by Fearnsport. It's now around 530whp - it gets up to ridiculous speeds so effortlessly. I mean really stupid speeds - past the 1.5 lepton mark in no time. My Dad was telling me about it, Uncle just left it in 6th and footed it, few seconds later - well into prison speeds. What I'm trying to say is, the car is so good at everything, it doesn't come alive until you're in death/prison speeds. Is this where the M3 takes the lead?

marcosgt said:

PS In reality, I wouldn't spend £30K on either.

Out of interest, what would your 30k be on?

[Wills2]

911p said:

The reason I'm asking this question is because I'm just wondering if the Turbo is just too quick for our roads now. My uncle has a 996 Turbo S, which has been remapped by Fearnsport. It's now around 530whp - it gets up to ridiculous speeds so effortlessly. I mean really stupid speeds - past the 1.5 lepton mark in no time. My Dad was telling me about it, Uncle just left it in 6th and footed it, few seconds later - well into prison speeds. What I'm trying to say is, the car is so good at everything, it doesn't come alive until you're in death/prison speeds. Is this where the M3 takes the lead?

One of the things I like about powerful RWD cars is you can have fun at 5 miles an hour a quick burst of throttle and a bit of lock is all you need to put a smile on your face esp in an e92 M3.

Edited by Wills2 on Saturday 9th October 22:49

[marcosgt]

911p said:

The reason I'm asking this question is because I'm just wondering if the Turbo is just too quick for our roads now. My uncle has a 996 Turbo S, which has been remapped by Fearnsport. It's now around 530whp - it gets up to ridiculous speeds so effortlessly. I mean really stupid speeds - past the 1.5 lepton mark in no time. My Dad was telling me about it, Uncle just left it in 6th and footed it, few seconds later - well into prison speeds. What I'm trying to say is, the car is so good at everything, it doesn't come alive until you're in death/prison speeds. Is this where the M3 takes the lead?

marcosgt said:

PS In reality, I wouldn't spend £30K on either.

Out of interest, what would your 30k be on?

Boring truth is I can't really imagine spending 30K on a car, so I've never really thought about it.

M.