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it will boil down to who sets it up and drives it

despite all the so-called negatives, it will suddenly become much faster in AS than it will be in SS all because of the previous sentence.

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"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car and oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car.
Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall, torque is how far you take the wall with you." --Anonymous

The Nebulizer:

Most of the posts I have read point to limitations of the stock e46 M3 (camber, weight/springs, thin front wheels/understeer) that keep it from being more than modestly competitive in AS. I have little knowledge of who is driving them though. But, given that the M3 is a popular car on the track, I would think if it was capable of being competitive it would be used more frequently in AS. I know of one competitive driver that gave it a shot but switched to the S2000. It just seems hard to believe a sports car like the M3 would not have had significant attempts made to be competitive in AS - its not like it is an odd car or one driven commonly by non-racer types. If you own an M3, it is your duty to do some sort of competitive driving.

The limited camber, weight, and narrow front wheels all raise doubts, and it is expensive to pioneer a new car even in stock class.  And it's an expensive car to take a risk on unless you just happen to own one anyway.  I think that is why people have not really gone for it.  I heard that when it was originally classed, Tunnell was going to set one up, but obviously he got distracted by Street Mod.  Josh Sirota spent a year preparing to run nationals in his car, but when the motor died that ended that plan.  Now he's off road racing.  There's a guy in San Diego who has one and is pretty quick.  He took 2nd place at the San Diego Tour 3 years ago on stock shocks and 245 tires on all four wheels.  That's not bad! 

Unfortunately in this part of the country, the E46 M3 is mainly bought as a status car.  There might have been more M3s sold than regular 3 series in northern California.  I occasionally see them at autocrosses, new guys who run a few events on street tires and disappear. I would guess that only slightly more people buy M3s with motorsports in mind than buy Hummers with off-roading in mind.

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John S.
S2000 #42as

The driver mentioned in San Diego with the E46 (Dave B.) is a stellar talent that just doesn't travel to big events, so only the locals know about him. The Tour you mentioned was the first time I remember him running R tires on that car, as when he does compete, which is not often, he normally runs street tires.

 I have driven the E90 extensively, and its a tough call as where to put it. But FWIW, I wouldn't risk buying one to run in AS, let alone SS.
 

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Gary T

Wholeheartedly agree with the M3 vs Hummer use comment especially with E46 M3's.  Seems like that's all around the country. 

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-2006 Lotus Elise- SS
-1993 Mazda Miata LE- ES
-2000 Honda S2000- BSP
-2005 Mazda RX-8-Sold

BSPC5:

But FWIW, I wouldn't risk buying one to run in AS, let alone SS. 

But what's this "Gary T." know? All he drives are Vettes and 911s. 

Gary, have you had a chance to run the new M3 at work or at play?

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Matt Murray

I am perfectly capable of learning from my mistakes. I will surely learn a great deal today.

mattm:

BSPC5:

But FWIW, I wouldn't risk buying one to run in AS, let alone SS. 

But what's this "Gary T." know? All he drives are Vettes and 911s. 

Gary, have you had a chance to run the new M3 at work or at play?

 Seems like there was the odd S2000, FD RX7, and even a Miata sprinkled in there somewhere....

I spent two weeks in a new M3 Coupe many months ago at work, so I did not autocross in it. We did run it around a road course though, where it was quite capable, but the low speed understeer was a problem. Reminded me a lot of the previous car, just with a wonderful new engine (as long as there are plenty of revs on the clock). Turns out I drove one just today on a power-oriented autox course. Not bad, but not going to run with the top SS cars at a big event. Could do well in AS if there is much time spent at full throttle on a fast course, particularly if piloted by anyone named Tunnell. But that's really the problem - too much power to fit well in AS. A really nice street car though, and I think a lot of car for the money.

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Gary T