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Today I drove a Saab Viggen and an Audi S4, yesterday I drove a pretty heavily modified M3(intake, exhaust, chip, lowered coil-over suspension) Here are my impressions:
M3 was fast! and it was the kind of fast that you feel, planted me into the seat. But the condition of the car was horrible - dirty, missing plastics, front tires rubbed because of suspension, and dirty grey seats(why they chose that color for leather I have no idea. I have yet to see an M3 with nice light grey seats) so that left me disappointed. Other than that the doors felt heavy and clunky. The feel was great and the handling spectacular. It is a very low car and feels as low as my porsche, maybe not good for a second family car? I didn't get a chance to really open it up though, maybe it felt fast because I kept having to slow down for other cars before it really got going? Overall I really liked it, definately a true sports car - RWD and powerful!
Viggen was a little sloppy but seemed to accelerate faster than the other two. I had a chance to open it up a few times and instantly I was doing 80-90mph. That turbo is insane, yes there is a significant amount of torque steer, but not much lag at all. You'd better be holding on to the wheel with both hands before you step down on it. It definately is not in the same class when it comes to handling, sloppy compared to the other two. The interior was nice and it had the best seats of all three. Not a contender as far as I am concerned, but it would be fun to feel that turbo kick every day.
Audi S4 -Best of both worlds? this car is fast but doesn't really let you know it, which is kind of a disappointment. Supposedly faster than the e36M3, the 2.7L twin turbo is very refined and is so smooth that you can be well over the speed limit and not even know it. As far as I'm concerned Audis are unmatched when it comes to interior quality, phenominal! Every gadget imaginable, great ergonomics, and the best overall ride of the three. Handling is far better than the Viggen, but not quite on par the M3. AWD is a big plus as I live in western PA and slick or snowy roads are frequent in the winter. But I can't do burnouts! I know, I know it's immature and not a good idea, but at least I'm honest. Also, sometimes I like to kick the back end out in the twisties and the Audi won't let me do that either. But this is definately the best all around car for the money and is one of the most tunable cars available. A chip alone will get you 300hp and 320lb/ft of torque, with two turbos to tune you can go pretty crazy with power mods - maybe then it will feel as fast as it is?
Well, I still haven't decided, I love the look of the M3, but I do have a family to think about, the viggen is off the list. I'd like to drive the S4 tiptronic, but those are hard to find. I'd definately want to give the S4 some sort of facelift, so if anyone has any links to S4 tuner sites I'd love to see them.
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