AMS - Audi RS3 vs. BMW 1M & Porsche Cayman R PDK

[elitt13]

1st place - Audi RS3 (251/300 points, 84 %
Fastest laptime on the wet and it's faster than the 1M around the dry track.

•Engine: i5, turbo, 340 hp, 450 Nm
•Drive: AWD, 7-speed-DSG
•Weight: 1590 kg
•Vmax.: 250 km/h (limited)
•0-40 km/h in 1,2 s
•0-100 km/h in 4,5 s
•0-200 km/h in 15,7 s
•Flexibility (80-120 km/h) in 6th gear: 6,3 s
•18 m slalom: 65,2 km/h
•Braking (100-0 km/h): 33,5 m (warm, Continental SportContact5)
•Average fuel consumption: 12,7 l/100 km

2nd place - Porsche Cayman R PDK (245/300 points, 82 %
The sportiest car of the trio. Direct, precise and brutally fast. Fastest dry lap. 0-100 km/h in 4,4 s (0,2 s faster than factory's claim).

•Engine: b6, 330 hp, 370 Nm
•Drive: RWD, 7-speed-DSG
•Weight: 1360 kg
•Vmax.: 280 km/h
•0-40 km/h in 1,5 s
•0-100 km/h in 4,4 s
•0-200 km/h in 15,5 s
•Flexibility (80-120 km/h) in 6th gear: 9,7 s
•18 m slalom: 67,4 km/h
•Braking (100-0 km/h): 33,0 m (warm, Bridgestone Potenza RE050)
•Average fuel consumption: 12,5 l/100 km

3rd place - BMW 1M (232/300 points,77 %
Great biturbo engine, weak traction on wet. However, it's still a great "Funmachine" for everyone.

•Engine: i6, biturbo, 340 hp, 450 Nm (Overboost: 500 Nm)
•Drive: RWD, 6-speed-manual
•Weight: 1500 kg
•Vmax.: 250 km/h (limited)
•0-40 km/h in 1,6 s
•0-100 km/h in 4,7 s
•0-200 km/h in 16,6 s
•Flexibility (80-120 km/h) in 6th gear: 6,5 s
•18 m slalom: 68,5 km/h
•Braking (100-0 km/h): 34,4 m (warm, Michelin Pilot Sport)
•Average fuel consumption: 12,9 l/100 km

Dry laptimes:

1.0.58,7 min - Cayman R PDK
2.0.59,8 min - RS3
3.1.00,2 min - 1M
Wet laptimes:

1.1.03,2 min - RS3
2.1.04,8 min - Cayman R PDK
3.1.05,7 min - 1M








first Defeat

[laissez_Faire]

not goood..

[dna550]

Comparison Test Audi RS3, Einser BMW M Coupe, Porsche Cayman R
Over 300 hp power car

[Redadair]

Now if only we could read it in English to see what they said about the three cars???

[carchrism5]

Anybody else find it funny how when there was the thread where the 1 M beat the Cayman it blew up like wildfire. Now the 1 M gets dead last and its all quiet?
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=519724

[Lima]

Thanks for posting this. And agreed a German-English translation would be great. Even a summarised version.

TBH I'm a fan of all three cars and there's no doubt in my mind that all three would reward their owners very much. The 1M has had a charmed run in the media up until now, and there'll be times when it doesn't float everyone's boat.

I am surprised at the RS3, though, seeing as people often tell me my Haldex-equipped S3 is a disgrace to the Ur Quattro's legacy, haha.

But, I'd take any one of those cars in a flash if I could. All will have their various strengths and weaknesses against each other and all will reward their drivers in slightly different ways. If I went with the Cayman R I'd just make sure I got it in a tasteful colour.

[Alpine*]

For what it is worth, the comparo is somewhat irrelevant here in Australia.

1) Audis RS3 is likely not coming to Australia due to local compliancy issues versus potential sales volumes.

2) A manual Cayman R is retail on the road here at ~$180k versus $115k for the 1M.

Bottom line, in this country at least, the options are limited at this price point, without the RS3 there is no real competitor for the 1M except for a 3 year old E92 M3 of course.

[MrRoboto]

Originally Posted by carchrism5

Anybody else find it funny how when there was the thread where the 1 M beat the Cayman it blew up like wildfire. Now the 1 M gets dead last and its all quiet?
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=519724

I find it tiring that we keep seeing the comparison of cars with launch control and dual clutch autoboxes compared against a manual gearbox. When we start to see relevant comparisons we will start caring.

Additionally the Porsche is built for the track and vastly more expensive then the 1M. The fact that the 1M is even in a test against the Cayman R is good news in my book. Also, the features of the Audi such as lightweight seats, LC, DSG, etc. will not be available to the models the majority of us on this forum will be able to buy.

A proper test will be a Cayman S, North American Spec RS3/TTRS, and the 1M.

[darkvaderr]

No idea why the Cayman R is there, the Cayman S is already more expensive than a 1M (in Canada at least).
And most people considering a 1M, I'm sure enjoys the manual-only-ness of it, and wouldn't be caught dead rocking a auto in their sports car. (flame suit on; but I said MOST, not all, I know there are a lot of dct fanbois here)

Based on prices in Canada, a fair comparison would be Cayman vs TT-S vs 1M.
But considering how the TT-S isn't offered in manual, I wouldn't mind seeing a Cayman S vs TT-RS vs 1M comparison.

[eeghie]

The concluding statements translated (native in neither language):

1. Audi 251/300
Even though it can not hide its front wheel drive bias, the 4 wheel driven RS3 beats the competition. With strong performance, traction assurance and daily driver reliability this 4 door car finishes upfront. For track and pure driving there is more excitement out there.

2.Porsche 245/300
This is how a sports car should be: nimble, direct and accurate. Based on the mid engine, the cayman R uses its weight reduction, power advantage and chassis optimization to win on character. The relatively high price annuls its victory though.

3.BMW 232/300
The 1M Coupe looks like a bulging gymnast and launches like a competitive boxer. The value for money maneuverable bi turbo-outlaw is not perfect, but a fun machine for all that like over steer and that think that perfect traction is overrated.

[Alpine*]

Originally Posted by eeghie

The concluding statements translated (native in neither language):

.................................. but a fun machine for all that like over steer and that think that perfect traction is overrated.

Hahahahaha, sounds good to me.

[M12Power]

The tire wear problem on the RS3 and the poor wet traction on the 1M could potentially be rectified by a simple change of rubber.

Rubber aside, the general consensus now is that it takes greater skills to wring the most out of the 1M, while the RS3's (or the TTRS’ for that matter) limit is far more accessible and easier to explore by the average Joe, so I would say in almost all of these magazine comparisons, you'll find that the RS3/TTRS is the faster of the two around a track, simply because you don’t know how skilled these journalist drivers are.

For example, from the recent comparison test done by C&D, they believed that most of the time that the 1M lost to the TTRS on the track was at this particular fast bend where the rear of the 1M tended to step out easily, which was exacerbated by the fact that they needed to upshift in mid-corner. Well, maybe the way they approached it was wrong. I think what they should have done was to short shift and carry as much speed as possible into the bend. The higher gear meant that the rear end would probably be less likely to step out upon application of power and that they could totally focus on the bend because they didn’t have to worry about the upshift.

In short, I would love to see how the lap times of these cars compare when driven by a reputable professional/racing driver on the same day, at the same track, on factory stock tires.

In the end though, if practicality was not a concern, the Cayman R would definitely be my pick out of these three for sure.

[Brandon26pdx]

Originally Posted by M12Power

In the end though, if practicality was not a concern, the Cayman R would definitely be my pick out of these three for sure.

Or money. Cayman R they way they have it configured would be at least $75k from the looks of it. Hell, a base 265hp Cayman with 6mt and only a few choice options is $60k

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by MrRoboto

I find it tiring that we keep seeing the comparison of cars with launch control and dual clutch autoboxes compared against a manual gearbox. When we start to see relevant comparisons we will start caring.

Additionally the Porsche is built for the track and vastly more expensive then the 1M. The fact that the 1M is even in a test against the Cayman R is good news in my book. Also, the features of the Audi such as lightweight seats, LC, DSG, etc. will not be available to the models the majority of us on this forum will be able to buy.

A proper test will be a Cayman S, North American Spec RS3/TTRS, and the 1M.

Agreed... this test pits an AWD 4 door wagon (4-5 seat vehicle) vs a 2 door 4 seat coupe vs a 2 door mid engine sports car.

Is this a European Motor Trend mag?

[conneem-TT]

Here is a translation of the points table

** means the RS3 was deducted 2 points for high tyre wear.



the RS3 gained more points for steering because in their opinion (from their earlier first drive of the 1M) it's steering was "unnecessarily heavy and somewhat insensitive".

Excluding the Cayman R for a second due to it's price I think the test just shows two very good cars that are geared towards drivers with different priorities. They have near identical base prices and can perform relatively at an almost equal level albeit going about it in a different manner. Which one is better than the other just depends on your requirements and preferences.

Note: the RS3 is only available with S-Tronic (comes standard with it).

[EmmDrei]

You know what I find really interesting?

How can a car that can drive the 18m slalom and the ISO "weaving" test faster than the other cars in a test be slower around a race track? If the car allows more cornering speed in standardized tests (which the 1M obviously does), then where does this speed go on a track? It can't just vanish, can it? Well... actually it can. If you sit someone behind the wheel, that cannot transfer an advantage into laptimes.

The beating the 1M gets in the wet does not surprise me... it's the Michelin. I keep repeating myself, I don't like the tyres wet handling. Obviously others don't either.

In the dry I am pretty sure they didn't run the car at its max. How could they, the stock seats simply won't allow it. That's where both Audi and Porsche have the big advantage. Simple observation (just look at the pictures), that explains what can be read.

The test makes me smile... turned the right screws in my car.

[conneem-TT]

Originally Posted by EmmDrei

You know what I find really interesting?

How can a car that can drive the 18m slalom and the ISO "weaving" test faster than the other cars in a test be slower around a race track? If the car allows more cornering speed in standardized tests (which the 1M obviously does), then where does this speed go on a track? It can't just vanish, can it? Well... actually it can. If you sit someone behind the wheel, that cannot transfer an advantage into laptimes.

The 18m slalom and "Elk" test involve very sharp steering inputs and would only really indicate how lightfooted each car was, wouldn't they? Not how they will perform on a variety of corners, for example the tail happiness of the 1M might hinder the highest speeds in some ect... The RS3 is also going to have a traction advantage and therefore most probably was able to get some power down earlier when exiting corners.

[evolution80]

first the porsche is in a whole different price range...

i only had AWD cars so far - and i always liked audis - it was fun driving around in our 97 S6 avant - also had a vw touareg v10 and a T and R model from volvo with AWD

i also considered buying a ttrs - because i like the 5cylinder... and the optional "bucket" seats

but:

the haldex awd system used in the tt and the rs3 is not as good as the new quattro (according to some tests - and my own experience with haldex awd - at least when driving somewhat "sporty") ...i know there is not enough space in tt and a3

weight distribution - understeer (it´s the sound of disappointment - jeremy clarkson )

here in tirol every second car is an a4 with s-line package

...had many issues with the v10 touareg - and the customer service at the audi/vw center where i bought it was terrible

so my next car will be a 1M (hopefully i will get used to the rwd quickly )

...you could go and buy a small fast sedan from mercedes or audi - but that would be like buying a playstation war game which isnt call of duty (jeremy clarkson)

[EmmDrei]

Originally Posted by conneem-TT

The 18m slalom and "Elk" test involve very sharp steering inputs and would only really indicate how lightfooted each car was, wouldn't they? Not how they will perform on a variety of corners, for example the tail happiness of the 1M might hinder the highest speeds in some ect... The RS3 is also going to have a traction advantage and therefore most probably was able to get some power down earlier when exiting corners.

Imho those tests show how much mechanical grip a car actually builds up. And the 1M offers a load of mechanical grip! Interesting, that it's more than a mid-engine car and more than a 4wd. But mechanical grip equals g-forces and the 1M has lousy seats in comparison to the other two. How are you going to use maximum grip, when you try to stabelize yourself i.e. by pressing your leg against the cardan tunnel? You won't. It's not "tail happy" that is the problem. If the car was tail happy, it would be tail happy during tests where the car has to weave. The 1M has neither under- nor oversteer, it is perfectly balanced and that is what sets it's physical limit at a very high level. But you have to be able to get there. They might as well have fitted garden chairs in the 1M, compared to the seats in the Porsche or the Audi. And if a driver has to hold on to the steering wheel or perform other stunts to be able to stay in his seat, he won't be able to go fast. Chances are, it was the drivers "tail" that was happy and not the cars!

[fastauto]

these reviews are all bull shit and are based on someones opinion. I own a 1M and out of all three cars listed i think the Cayman R is the best. I respect the performance of the Audi but coming from someone that has owned a few of them i am not a fan of the looks of this car. I say Porsche>BMW>Audi. I went with the 1M becase it is by far the best bang for your buck out of all three.

[MrRoboto]

^^^Agree..these comparisons are ridiculous. The Cayman R only comes out on top if you are looking for a purpose build car and not an all rounder.

Once again we find that the 1 series and especially the 1M is in a category by itself.

[BimmerMat135]

As the Audi RS3 is not heading to Canada and both Audi TTRS and Cayman R are at least 20 000$ more than the 1M and far more difficult to live with on a daily base, I think that the 1M still the winner in here.