CHRIS HARRIS ON CARS - F80 M3, full road and track test

how good's this car look at a four-door it's obviously a 3-series NIT so obviously something special without resorting to silly wings and frills power comes from a three litre twin-turbocharged straight-6 producing 425 horsepower and the important bit which is 406 foot-pounds from under 2,000 RPM it may not look like a massive step over the e90 v8 but it's actually way more potent with its dual clutch gearbox BMW claims zero to 100 miles an hour in under nine seconds it weighs fifteen hundred and ninety-five kilograms the list of mechanical modifications is so large I've actually posted a separate video of an engineer explaining some of them you could probably claim that this car was so different to the base car it should need me call the three series and that funky blue paintwork is actually a metallic finish the car we're in is a four-door m3 with the dual clutch DCT transmission it's got 19-inch wheels with the Michelin Pilot Sport Club Super Sport whatever you call it tire it's got ceramic brakes I think that's about it the interiors got the fancy one-piece seat as well you can check those out on the options list so that's what we're in what's it like to drive pretty damn good Wow first impressions I love every win this one this is spectacular I think first impressions on the road the front axles got so much grip every corner I'm going into you can just push and push and push it gives you so much confidence there's just no understeer at all and it's not bring the tail into play whenever you want to with your right foot but let's start with the controls steering okay not full of that stuff that people call feel that but much better than the e92 who's steering was a little bit artificial and frankly didn't give you much information and also was probably a bit too quick this is nicely judged for speed it's got three different settings just like the last two M cars were driven m5 and m6 it's got a comfort a sport on a Sport Plus set meaning comfort sport requires some shoulder sport plus is real he-man stuff and I'm not that butch on macho coz I'm only 5 foot 7 um so I leave it in comfort dampers on the road we got Comfort Sport Sport+ comfort really nice I find it nicely resolved takes bumps quite firm car still gives you nice response sport too much for me but not unusable on the road certainly Sport Plus track used it on the road thought it was horrid the throttle response are the engine three modes again we've got efficiency then we've got Sport and Sport Plus normally I like the throttle quite long but this car actually I go for the shorter throttle positions I think sport is about right the one in the middle so for me I'd have the car in comfort for chassis comfort for steering and I'd have it in the sport for the flock what's it like to have a turbocharged m3 well first of all it makes some odd noises for the first half an hour to me it sounded like a tuna 3 3 5 D of the last generation under load it's got a slightly sort of diesel e 600 noise not actually that pleasant I have to say but as time goes on I've become more accustomed to the noise as you quite like it the motor the motor is a masterpiece ok we've discussed that noise not being quite what you'd expect but in terms of throttle response for twin-turbocharged 3 litre just astonishing absolutely astonishing it loves to rev and what's more when you're in the revs four to six thousand you can just whack it and it's instantly responsive and it drops revs it just feels normally aspirated to me and then you have all the benefit of the torque low down compared to the e90 series it's so much faster and more effective on the road just leave and the chassis well I love the balance I'm on dry Portuguese Road so maybe it's not entirely fair but I love the way it feels so rear driven the front axle feels uncorrupted you don't have to drive it like a complete lunatic but if you turn the traction control half off you can just feel it squirm on the exit of turns it's just so rewarding this initial impressions is a great em car on the road a great package it's quite compact it's not too big yet it's comfortable usable and it's exciting as well I think it it moves the game massively on from the last car we don't actually need to shoot a link peace between the road section we've just shot and the track section that we're about to shoot but there's something in my inner car enthusiasts contract that told me if there is an m3 sport evolution a 30 Park semi have to stand by it with the camera so I'm doing that now that's a sport evolution and I'm going to go and lick it you 36 what color is that what color is that C yellow it's not Phoenix's DAC are yellow remember that that car yellow that's a beautifully 46 on 18s but it's got the wrong gearbox because it's got these paddles behind the student we don't like those much a 92 lovely engine perhaps not the best all-around package and then there's the new one bad family history is it not a bad family history take a pure back I'd like one of all of those let's go spying anyone this is portimão circuit a great place to drive any car but particularly a street based car because it's big in its open it's got gradient you can really use the performance power I mean is an m3 and mater the saloon is one we had yesterday so it's got carbon ceramics 19-inch wheels optional adaptive dampers and it is really good when you're taking a streetcar putting it onto a circuit two things you need is brakes and tires not traditionally BMW M strongest suit normally the brakes are made of butter but that seems to be thing of the past these ceramics be pounding around here for a few laps and they're absolutely fine what do I like about this car first of all stand out for me car turned in beautifully because I mean this again a road car but it's the rear axle location that solid mounting means I just got such a connection between my right foot and the back axle of the car that for me is the elixir of Motoring I love it it's why I love the fact that M cars are still rear-wheel drive yes on a rainy day in the UK it's not going to be the easiest thing but for these moments it's just stupendous the tire that Michelin suitable great bit of work special aramid belt construction all sorts going on a special compound the net effect is we've got a lovely amount of front-end grip when we turn the car in the grip then builds down the side of the car there beautifully and if I want to just over steer it a little bit I can I've got that control to the grips nicely balanced down the side of the car steering it's just so accurate I can put it exactly where I want to strangely on the track I've still got a comfort because I just prefer it that way engine it pulls it really pulls talks amazing from three to about six and for me it's still worth extending out I love the engine the noise what do you think for me it sounded like a 3/3 5d initially you get a bit more noise in the Sport Plus mode that sounds pretty damn good to me not as good as the old v8 but still it's a good noise in standard mode with the traction control on there's quite a lot of assistance it comes in too much from it interferes in MDM so half way traction control it'll allow quite a bit of a slide if at BMW M say it will allow the car to spin there's so much leeway but really he just got it you just got to turn it all off boys got to turn it all off and you've got a Rex and tyres x4m cars are all about this it's got so much violence you know I was talking to an engineer earlier and he had a slight glint in his eye because the fat is being Dover you've got drivers that do this all day long they do it they test it not because it's relevant but because they know an M car should have this feel and if you take handling characteristics that allow you to just launch early pull shapes like that you're going to end up with a car that's got a handling balance in normal conditions that you're really going to enjoy just superb here we can just back it in just ride out a tional and of course the torque means that this is even more of a drift weapon than the e92 itself quite handy it's slithering around this circuit is just ace you have such a good sense of connection in this car it's not big and it's not clever but I mean these cars are just designed to do it on they they're just designed to do it well this is the long one this could go on sometime this could go on sometime I'm sorry about that I'm sorry about it but you just got to do it I'll take a saloon in blue with the DCT gearbox the 19-inch wheels the adaptive dampers and the ceramic brakes I'll take it around June July time kind of doobie thank you

Channel: Chris Harris on Cars

Views: 775,476

Rating: 4.9444528 out of 5

Keywords: chris, harris, chris harris on cars, bmw, m3, f90, e90, e30, turbo, track, road, test, review

Id: vqGX7Y0GZXE

Length: 10min 39sec (639 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 25 2014