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Pick of the crop

The BMW M3 takes on the Audi R8

Ben Oliver performs an asymmetrical test of two of the year’s most intriguing new super cars – the BMW M3 and the Audi R8

“Unfair,” we hear you cry. What are we doing comparing a BMW M3 – €75,000, but based on a plebeian €30,000 saloon – with the Audi R8, a €120,000 mid-engined supercar derived in part from the €180,000 Gallardo of Audi’s sister brand Lamborghini, and a true member of Europe’s motoring aristocracy?

Until now, plenty of car connoisseurs would have argued that we were being unfair to the Audi. BMW M, the Munich firm’s motorsport division, has a long history of taking the company’s standard cars and, with the addition of the famous “M badge” and subtle improvements to every aspect of their performance, creating scalpel-sharp tools for people who really, really know how to drive. M-cars have never needed vast power outputs or compromises in comfort or refinement to produce their thrills, and much of their appeal lies in the fact that they look so much like their humbler siblings but routinely blow the doors off bespoke sports cars that sell for two or three times the price.

Audi has long struggled to produce the same effect. Its high-performance S- and RS-badged saloons and estates have a distinctive appeal, their powerful, flexible engines and Quattro four-wheel drive system delivering relaxed, secure performance in all road conditions. They’re very fast, but have long trailed their rival BMW’s M-cars for the delicacy, poise and involvement that enthusiasts prize. Just as with styling, each carmaker has a dynamic DNA that is distinct from its rivals but reflected in each new model it produces, the result of shared componentry and the common philosophy of its engineers.

A company producing cars that ride or handle poorly can change, but not overnight. Just as with DNA, change is typically slow and evolutionary.

Audi appears to have indulged in a little gene therapy to accelerate its pursuit of BMW, however. The first outward sign came with the launch of the sensational RS4 two years ago. Mating a 420 PS V8 engine to the standard saloon, estate and cabriolet body styles of Audi’s mass-market A4, the RS4 is the M3’s direct rival and comes closer to the BMW benchmark than any previous fast Audi.

That said, you’d still be unwise to back Audi to produce – on its first attempt – a supercar that merits comparison not only with the cheaper but sensational M3, but also with direct price rivals from experienced carmakers like Porsche and Aston Martin. Why is Audi choosing to take these giants on? Because it can. Sales are booming; Audi is likely to sell more than a million cars this year for the first time and plans to overtake BMW as Germany’s biggest premium carmaker with sales of 1.5 million by 2015. It is hugely profitable and plans to reinvest those profits in a torrent of new models in new market sectors, of which the mid-engined supercar is just one.

So in fact the BMW M3 and Audi R8 have a lot in common. Each is its brand’s dynamic champion. Each has a naturally aspirated V8 engine of around four litres with an identical 420 PS output; the R8 gets the engine from the RS4 and the latest version of the M3 gets a V8 for the first time. Each has just been launched; they are the two most significant new performance cars of the year.

Although the Audi is based on the aluminium spaceframe chassis and double wishbone suspension of the Lamborghini, its best features are unique to the R8 and are all Audi’s own work. It’s longer than a Gallardo, for instance, giving more cabin room and the ability to carry two sets of golf clubs. The engine is mounted very low in the chassis, improving the car’s centre of gravity for better handling but also giving amazing all-round visibility for a low, mid-engined supercar. Such cars are usually a worry to drive in town or traffic, but the R8 is comfortable, practical and usable; it could be your only car, and it robs the coupe-based M3 of much of the usability advantage the latter might have expected to enjoy. The M3 does have four seats and a bigger boot, of course, but the R8 has the more spectacular cabin, made with the attention to design, ergonomics, build and material quality we’re used to in Audis.

This comparison isn’t about boot space or how the switches feel, however – it’s about how these cars drive. At a cruise, both are remarkably pliant for cars of such high performance. M-cars have always been relatively soft and comfortable when they need to be, with the controls leaping into focus when you start to press harder; Audis have often irritated with a firm ride but failed to provide the promised sharpness when leant upon. The R8 reverses this trend; its electronically controlled dampers give both a supple ride and terrific body control when required, and the steering provides astonishing directness and clarity. The Quattro system deploys the power with immense composure, but because the majority of the torque is sent to the rear wheels a good driver can still adjust the car’s cornering attitude with the throttle as much as the steering wheel.

It’s an astonishingly complete performance, and one that, just as astonishingly, the M3 struggles to match. The BMW’s V8 is the more exciting to use; it’s louder and fractionally more responsive than the Audi’s curiously mute motor, and its rear-drive layout is even more adjustable. It is, of course, sensationally fast and has huge grip, but the low-speed softness doesn’t disperse as completely as in previous M3s, nor does the old precision and definition appear. Few will notice, though; for the bulk of M3 buyers, lacking the talent or the desire to find the limits of their car’s abilities, a little more margin for error is probably a good thing.

The new M3 is still a staggeringly good car; it just hasn’t raised the bar by the margin new M3s are supposed to. The R8, by contrast, sets new standards both for Audi and for supercars at this price; it’s flattering and secure for the hesitant, involving and adjustable for the experienced. The R8 wins this one, but not by the margin you might have thought. EB

BMW M3

Price From €75,000
Engine 4.0 V8 petrol
Power 420 PS
Top speed 250 km/h (limited)
0-100 km/h 4.8 sec
CO₂ 295 g/km
Economy 12.3 l/100 km
We like Ride, handling, engine note, practicality
We don’t like Not as sharp as we’d hoped
Verdict A performance icon gets a little older and softer

AUDI R8

Price From €120,000
Engine 4.2 V8 petrol
Power 420 PS
Top speed 300 km/h
0-100 km/h 4.6 sec
CO₂ 349 g/km
Economy 14.6 l/100 km
We like Ride, grip, handling, practicality
We don’t like Engine note, styling
Verdict Audi nails the mid-engine supercar on its first attempt