I love my car

[drivendriver]

I just came back from 3 days at Summit Point with the Porsche club. I had a great time, and the M3 didn't disappoint.

First, DCT truly is a fantastic tool (and a great advantage) on the track. It lets you do things that you just can't do with a manual. For example, up-shifting mid-corner doesn't unsettle the car. And there is no interruption in acceleration.

The brakes held up very well. Summit Point has a very long straight followed by a slow (but with increasing radius) corner. So you have to drop speed very quickly. I used 6th gear (and reached just over 130 when there was no traffic) in the straight, and entered the corner (turn 1) in 2nd gear. The brakes worked very well there. Turn 5 is also quite hard on the brakes. That was a bit trickier because, as the day went on, the tarmac became very slippery in that area, and I had to increase my breaking distance. During one of the sessions the brakes became quite smelly, but other than that I never had any problem over 20 minute sessions.

The car does extremely well in fast transitions. Turns 7, 8 and 9 form two very quick transitions that are very important for the shorter straight between turns 9 and 10. I was quite a bit faster than the rest of the group in 7, 8, 9, and I consistently exceeded 100 between 9 and 10.

The car is very neutral and balanced. I only had a couple of oversteer episodes in turn 1 when the tarmac got really hot. But it was very manageable. To be fair, though, I had MDM turned on, and it kicked in a few times in the technical section. I had no understeer problem whatsoever.

Turns 5 and 6 were the only areas where the Porsches had an advantage. I could keep up with them, but I had to put quite a bit more stress on the tires (and, as I said, MDM kicked in in that section). Overall, the tires did a decent job (I never lost the car), but I think I was at the limit. They were squealing in all turns except 3 and 4.

I left EDC in Normal mode all the time. I was tempted to try Sport mode, but the technical section was quite slippery because of the heat and I was happy with the way the car was working, so in the end I didn't touch EDC.

Overall, the car was very quick around the whole track, and many Porsche owners were quite impressed (and quite a few were very surprised). A couple of Cayman and Boxster owners told me that their cars are true sports car, while the M3 isn't. But they were quite a bit slower.

However, the prize for best comment of the week-end goes to a Corvette driver: "I was shocked to see a sedan on my bumper". This also proves that there's really no reason for E90 and E92 drivers to fight, because we all look the same to Corvette drivers (OK, maybe not all Corvette drivers ).

[JohnnyRoaster]

Nice! I have never driven at Summit Point but have heard great things about it. It sounds like a great weekend. Funny comment from the vette driver.

[Big Windy]

great shot and fun write-up! we all love our cars too

[AMPowerJ]

So the Corvette driver thought you were driving a sedan? He didn't see that you just had two doors when you passed him?

Nice writeup BTW.

[bobbyd1961]

great story thanks for making us proud!

[von_zoom]

Thanks for the write up. Nice to see you had a good time, and no issues, but may I ask if you had any power steering fluid release under the hood. Assume you were running stock brake pads with street tires.
vz

[VictorH]

Which of the DCT modes did you find worked best? Also, what tire pressures did you run?

[emesdub]

thanks for sharing.

[BilletDesign]

i never really truly loved my M3 until i lowered it

[drivendriver]

Originally Posted by von_zoom

Thanks for the write up. Nice to see you had a good time, and no issues, but may I ask if you had any power steering fluid release under the hood. Assume you were running stock brake pads with street tires.
vz

The instructor warned me about the power steering fluid release, but luckily it didn't happen.

Yes, I was using the stock brake pads and Michelin tires. I picked up my car on July 20 in Spartanburg and have not done anything to it. But I'll probably get racing brake pads for next time.

[drivendriver]

Originally Posted by VictorH

Which of the DCT modes did you find worked best? Also, what tire pressures did you run?

I used S5 most of the time. I briefly tried S4, but I didn't like it as much.

I was running 36 in front and 38 in the back.

[TwoSaints]

Just out of curiosity... What problem does the M3 have with power-steering fluid being released?

Oh, and great write up!

[linsm3]

Fun write-up to read. I was just having a conversation today with my husband about how much I love the M and he said "you don't have to keep on talking about it all the time", this from a Viper guy. The only thing is how could the Boxster owner even think that is a sports car, you've got to be kidding.

[drivendriver]

Originally Posted by emesdub

thanks for sharing.

My pleasure . Since you liked that, now I'll tell you the whole story.

The truth is, I had not driven anything on a track since the Spring of 2004 (except for the short track in Spartanburg). I drove 125cc shifter karts from 2001 to 2004. Nothing since then. Before getting into karting, I did two track days (at Laguna Seca and Sears Point) with a stock 99 Miata. Driving an M3 at the Performance Center when I took delivery of my car made me want to get back into it.

So, this week-end they put me in the "Green" group, which was fair enough (the pecking order is Green, Blue, White, and then Red/Black). All the other members of the group had more experience in cars. I was afraid that I would not remember anything about driving, that I would make an ass of myself, and that I would come back with a cosmetically altered car (or worse).

The cars in the group were several Boxsters and Caymans (base and S), several Carreras (a 964, a 993 C4S, plus some 996s and 997s), a recent Turbo (not sure whether it was a 996 or a 997), a GT3, the Corvette that I mentioned before, two E46 M3s (a pretty girl and her very lucky boyfriend), a Z3 M Coupe and ... a Subaru Impreza wagon!!!.

Now, here comes the bottom line. Only one car (a 996 or 997) passed me all week-end, and that was one lap after I had passed him. I guess having me ahead of him gave him extra motivation . After riding with me for two days, my instructor (a really great guy) let me go solo today, and before my last session he told me that he would recommend that I move up to the "Blue" group ASAP. One of his reasons was that the speed differential with other cars/drivers had become too large, which created a couple of issues.

Now, I won't lie: I can't deny that I'm pretty happy with myself tonight. But I didn't write this (just ) to boast.

My point is that it is truly a huge credit to the M3 that I was able to get back into track driving and improve so quickly. The car is extremely predictable and confidence-inspiring--much more so than I expected after 3 weeks of street driving. It really felt like it really came into its own on the track. The neutral behavior helps a lot. It makes the car feel very "honest". If the car doesn't go where you want it to go, it's your fault; it means you're doing something wrong. It's not more difficult to drive than a Miata, even though it's much faster. And it is much easier to drive than a shifter kart. My instructor was really very impressed with the car itself. He mentioned several times "you have a very capable car" and he said "it's a fun car to ride in". He was particularly impressed by the brakes and ... the AC (apparently that's a weakness of the earlier Porsches).

A side note: my experience with shifter karts is one of the main reasons why I don't miss the clutch pedal at all. I did make the effort of learning and practicing heel-and-toe, but the truth is I will never be able to rev-match nearly as well as DCT. DCT lets me focus on the throttle, the steering wheel and the brakes, which is what I really enjoy.

[SoreHead]

Originally Posted by TwoSaints

Just out of curiosity... What problem does the M3 have with power-steering fluid being released?

Oh, and great write up!

+1000
Is it a hissing from under the hood when you stop and turn off?? I've had that and they thought it was water gathering in the right had fake air intake on the hood dripping down onto the hot engine but it's happened today and yesterday and there's no water in there. Uh-Oh. My first problem????

[warzilla]

Great great write up. Makes me want to go to a track right now. Btw love that line:

"A couple of Cayman and Boxster owners told me that their cars are true sports car"

That made me ROFL.

BTW- I been noticing the last couple of days 911 guys checking out my M3. Once when it was parked, and a father/son team walked over to my parked car....their 997s cab was a few spots away. I was checking them out from far away. Another time was at a spotlight, when in opposite coming traffic, another guy in a 911 was totally checking out the M3. I'm very content that I brought the M3 over an 997 (was looking at an 05, 06 model).

[von_zoom]

The power steering fluid excapes from the reservior through the breather hole in the cap, and is then distributed all over the engine. Cause is either, pressure building up in the reservior, OR, the fluid heating up and then being forced out of the container. I have not been able to determine if it is heat related, or simply pressure. Evidently, removing a small amount of the fluid will prevent it from overflowing through the cap.
vz

[zenderm3]

Great write up - and nice to hear/see that you're a driver that's holding the value/capability of this car.

Nice pics as well. How did the tyres fair through this?

[drivendriver]

Originally Posted by zenderm3

Great write up - and nice to hear/see that you're a driver that's holding the value/capability of this car.

Nice pics as well. How did the tyres fair through this?

I think the tires did a pretty good job considering that the track was very hot. They only held me back in the two slowest corners (where the asphalt was coming apart) and in a hard breaking zone that was quite slippery. In turns 9 and 10 I felt I was close to the limit, but not so close that I had to hold back. I was just a bit warier than usual because of the screeching. Overall I would have felt more comfortable if the track had been cooler, but the PS2's definitely have enough grip to have a lot of fun.