R32 Gt-R Vs. New Wrx Sti

[Aussie_Delivered_R32_GTR]

The R32- GTR is in my humble opinion one of the true 'apex technology' cars - the true highlight of its generation.....there was nothing more.....

The current Subi isn't at that level yet. If anything the R35 GTR approaches what I would expect from an 'apex' car using todays technology.

You feel that difference.......

Cheers

The Baron

Well put.....

Like a lot of things, we take stuff for granted until we get a chance to compare.

The only other car I really want to test drive is an E92 BMW M3.Unfortunately they are still serious money but an E46 manual (very rare) at $45K is more where I am likely to be but the V8 sounds fantastic.

I owned a Dakar Yellow E36 M3 for 3 years and loved it. It was an earlier version with the 3.0L 5 speed not the stupid SMG 6 speed which came out in the later 3.2L cars.

I'm not sure what I may end up with but I certainly know what i won't be owning and that's a STI.

Cheers,

Bob.

[BakemonoRicer]

Well put.....

Like a lot of things, we take stuff for granted until we get a chance to compare.

The only other car I really want to test drive is an E92 BMW M3.Unfortunately they are still serious money but an E46 manual (very rare) at $45K is more where I am likely to be but the V8 sounds fantastic.

I owned a Dakar Yellow E36 M3 for 3 years and loved it. It was an earlier version with the 3.0L 5 speed not the stupid SMG 6 speed which came out in the later 3.2L cars.

I'm not sure what I may end up with but I certainly know what i won't be owning and that's a STI.

Cheers,

Bob.

I have heard the E36 BMW M3 really was a true drivers car. Really has a timeless shape as well. Any reason why you sold it off?

Btw, have you heard of any E36 M3 GTR's in the country? Would be really cool to own one of those...very rare as well I suspect

[Aussie_Delivered_R32_GTR]

I have heard the E36 BMW M3 really was a true drivers car. Really has a timeless shape as well. Any reason why you sold it off?

Btw, have you heard of any E36 M3 GTR's in the country? Would be really cool to own one of those...very rare as well I suspect

I sold the M3 12 months after buying the ADM GT-R. I just struggled for room and the cost was a bit prohibitive.

What made things suck was 6 weeks after selling the car I got a promotion which would have allowed me to keep the car.

Anyway I looked around for a nice JDM R32 and ended up with one 3 months later.

I've toyed with selling it and there is a bit of interest here so I'm looking around for an alternative if it does sell.

Stupid part is I don't even know if I really want to sell it but that's another story!

The M3 GTR...... I think was only called a M3R for racing in Australia. BMW released 15 in the mid 1990's. All white and numbered. My mates race car is one and The Classic Throttle Shop in Sydney recently sold one.

Here - http://www.classicthrottleshop.com/soldcars.htm

Scroll down 18 rows but you can't enlarge the pic. Low mileage car..... Sold for about $60K.

Stunning car I had a good look at it before it sold but too much like my car for more than twice the price.

Here are some pics of my old M3.

[10 4]

E36 M3s are lovely. I had the evo with the getrag box. Awesome well rounded car.

I love E46s, never been in one though. Pity CSL is SMG only...

[Aussie_Delivered_R32_GTR]

E36 M3s are lovely. I had the evo with the getrag box. Awesome well rounded car.

I love E46s, never been in one though. Pity CSL is SMG only...

I drove another mates 2004 E46 M3 ....... Performance was great but it was a SMG. Hated that!

[Redline_GTR]

Good comparison Bob.

It's a nice read and know that a 20+ year old car can still put that smile on your face over the newer "technology" packed cars of today.

A manual E46 would be awesome but yes indeed a pain to find.

The newer E92 does sound amazing with the V8 but it does feel as if the car is doing most of the work for you.

That would probably be a deterring factor for you to differentiate between the two (not including price).

Of course, though, still an fantastic car!

[GTR-N1]

E36 M3 final series with 6sp and double Vanos was a much better car as I'd tried both for fun drives. 200cc extra.

E46 SMG has had faults. I'd have chosen manual anyway.

[Goombeh]

Great little review, and one which mimics my sentiments accurately when I was looking at the WRX.

Following on with your comments on the E92/E90 M3, the prices have come down considerably, and with the announcement of the new Turbo M3 which is on its way, these will move even more I'd expect. So if this was a thought, it may still be a possibility.

Having said that however, I again was in a similar state of mind as you, and as much as the M3 was what I thought I wanted, and as wonderful as that V8 sounds, and as much as I'd just about convinced myself that that was what I'd buy, when it came to driving it, I never quite felt its bite matched its bark. I drove one on three different occasions and was left feeling the same way. Wonderful car, but there were other areas also which let it down, like the strangely notchy 6 speed and apparent lack of torque for such a motor.

Needless to say I couldn't settle on the M3, so I bought something else, but I've still kept the GTR, and if I'm honest, the new car is the closest thing I've driven which gives me a similar sensation to the raw, angry delivery of a GTR, and I think they're both wonderful. But I think an M3 is worth a drive if you're ever passing by a BMW dealer, because they are sublime in many other ways.

[Cherry Racer]

I went from a modded 05 sti, to a stock 99 2dr sti to a R32 v spec II. 05 had plenty of grunt (once modified) but felt heavy for what it was. 2 door was nice and super responsive. Definitely quicker than a gtr down low. Personally I prefer the gtr due to its presence (just look at those guards) and better steering. I also love the smoothness of the 6 after only having 4s.

I reckon a 22B vs some type of limited edition R34 would be an interesting comparison.

Edited October 30, 2013 by Cherry Racer

[Burnz]

My daughter owned this WRX for 9 months until we sold it to buy a MX-5.

I loved it and pleaded with her not to sell it but it was like talking to a brick wall.

Fortunately the MX-5 is a great car too and probably a bit more suited to a 21 year old.

If I didn't already have a fleet of cars I would have tried to find a way of keeping it but that simply wasn't possible.

The new car didn't feel much faster ( or that much better) than hers but was $60,000 more!

Cheers and thanks for the favourable comments about the review. It motivates me to keep finding interesting things to discuss.

Bob.

My other half has the bugeye sti, I love zippin it round the suburbs. My 34 has a gt35r and the lag is pretty painful after the sti

[Aussie_Delivered_R32_GTR]

_{Hi Guys........}

_{Thought I'd just post an update.}

_{I test drove a 2007 BMW M3 V8 today.}

_{As you would expect it is a beautifully built car but the one thing that surprised me again was the outright performance.}

_{Yes.... It's naturally quick but not in the way the GT-R is. The GT-R really has a WOW factor when pushed at 4500+ RPM's.}

_{The M3 felt a bit lethargic. On paper it should be considerably quicker but it's not!}

_{I don't think the car I drove was in perfect health so I'll make an allowance but once again, like with the STI I'm very comfortable is how good the R32 is.}

_{Ok...... Next on the list to drive is a 2003-2007 Mercedes Benz SL55 AMG.}

_Cheers,

_Bob.

[Redline_GTR]

Wow, mate now that really is saying how good the GTR is

Thanks for that update.

Will be interested to see how you keep going with your comparisons.

[GTR-34A]

very interesting read, thanks for sharing.

I recently got rid of my daily and now have my gtr up for sale and was looking into getting similar cars mentioned aboved and go back to one car.

At the top of my list is an evo X at this stage (sedan for daily is preferred for me). have you driven them at all? or they just dont interest you? Ive never driven one but would be interested in thoughts from gtr drivers that have??

[GTR-N1]

_{Hi Guys........}

_{Thought I'd just post an update.}

_{I test drove a 2007 BMW M3 V8 today.}

_{As you would expect it is a beautifully built car but the one thing that surprised me again was the outright performance.}

_{Yes.... It's naturally quick but not in the way the GT-R is. The GT-R really has a WOW factor when pushed at 4500+ RPM's.}

_{The M3 felt a bit lethargic. On paper it should be considerably quicker but it's not!}

_{I don't think the car I drove was in perfect health so I'll make an allowance but once again, like with the STI I'm very comfortable is how good the R32 is.}

_{Ok...... Next on the list to drive is a 2003-2007 Mercedes Benz SL55 AMG.}

_Cheers,

_Bob.

* big_d sold his mp3 R34 GT-R V-Spec and went across to the SL55 AMG. He said he's quite happy and rarely misses the GT-R (although I don't think Derek went to the track in it)

* I'm not sure about the V8 M3, but when our eldest son Mark was alive and was a service advisor for BMW, he often came across M3s that had become sluggish.

> the BMW technicians warmed up the cars > checked the DMEs for fault codes and history > gave the cars a thorough thrashing (including NRL coach Ricky Stuart's) > performance was immediately better (according to the owners who asked, "what'd you do to it?")

* Me personally Anthony; for a contrasting performance car, I've been happy with the EVO 8MR (with Bilsteins). I mentioned that to Bob eh, at Casula one morning.

> it's chuckable

> after removing restrictions > replacements; like the lower FMIC pipe, hot turbo pipe & 3" Invidia exhaust

> much more seamless acceleration, bottom end power and midrange

And it was a damn cheap Grade 4.5 (with full Japanese history) through JLM

[/u

Mitsubishi paint is frightfully thin at 120 microns tho'

[GTR-34A]

Thanks Terry,

I do like the styling of the older evos a little better (7-9), but 08 model X's are now going for the same if not cheaper than 8MRs and IXs, and because its a daily i like the idea of it being only 5ish years old. then you have other added perks of the X including all the issues around imports, rust (i know this isnt exclusive to imports), odo readings, insurance, police hassels (potentially less in a X??), and generally a newer car with newer features, than can still be very fast and enjoyable aswell on the road and track, and as you said need very little mods to make them very fun...

if i had the money i would look closer at the V8 M3 sedan and C63 amg which are coming down in price...

ive found there isnt alot in the way of good performance sedans that are around 5 years old for or below 40-50k...

[MFC05]

Thanks Terry,

I do like the styling of the older evos a little better (7-9), but 08 model X's are now going for the same if not cheaper than 8MRs and IXs, and because its a daily i like the idea of it being only 5ish years old. then you have other added perks of the X including all the issues around imports, rust (i know this isnt exclusive to imports), odo readings, insurance, police hassels (potentially less in a X??), and generally a newer car with newer features, than can still be very fast and enjoyable aswell on the road and track, and as you said need very little mods to make them very fun...

if i had the money i would look closer at the V8 M3 sedan and C63 amg which are coming down in price...

ive found there isnt alot in the way of good performance sedans that are around 5 years old for or below 40-50k...

Nissan Skyline V36s sedans. 09 model onward updated front end 3.7 litre

[vspecIInur]

I tell you one thing though with evo models 7-9 and the X, they handle like your driving a go kart. You can throw them so hard in the corners when you've upgraded the tyres, added some sways and suspension. But they have very short gear ratios and can run out of puff mid way 3rd gear.

Evo X has improved with it's handling performance no doubt but with the amount of after market availability for all evo's is just crazy.

I remember wanting to buy a FQ series evo many years ago but couldn't happen.

Edited January 2, 2014 by vspecIInur

[seventhirteen]

Hey guys, thought I would put my 2 cents into this. I work at a subaru service centre as a technician (no im not an apprentice) and I test drive a lot of the new STi's I work on.

So first things first, yes they are very underwhelming in the performance side especially for how they look (big wing, big guards, big brembos and big wheels). The power comes on strong at first but just goes flat around the mid range of the RPM and it is very disappointing. Now these are the factory STis. I must admit I have a soft spot for them because I choose to work at subaru as I have a passion for them.

Now this is coming from someone that owns a 94 R32 GTR jdm and I will say, just with a flash tune and an exhaust, the STi is more exciting. Now the power comes on strong and stays pulling all the way to redline and you have torque at all RPM ranges. Now I only own a stock 32 and cant really say much for the modded scene, but as it stands now, I would rather be sitting in a lightly modded STi then a stock 32.

But with all that being said, im still not gonna ever own an STi. The raw presence of a GTR is legendary and unbeatable. I love my 32 to bits and will never sell it.