Another what car thread...

[THE_Liam]

I don't doubt that they're a quick car with good handling, but they're not a car you can grab 'by the scruff of the neck' and really push your luck in - they're a big car at the end of the day, nothing like what a light-footed hot hatch can do.

Without meaning to sound condescending, have you even driven a properly setup 3 series? Or is that opinion based purely on thought? Genuine question.

It's not concecending at all bud, and no I haven't driven one hard before, it's just years of reading car mags that have formulated my 'unexperienced' opinion, that's what they all seem to allude to.

I'm totally open to you suggesting otherwise since you have first hand experience, I just can't imagine that an e46 is as forgiving as say a FWD hot hatch / coupé down one of our country's fine B-roads*. You can usually take a lot more risks in a FWD car because the grip is easier to predict, all you're ever going to get is understeer when pushing or lift-oversteer where applicable. In a RWD car you can get snap oversteer if something unsettles the car, which is worrying. Not saying that I'm scared of RWD cars, just that most people aren't the driving gods they like to think they are and when the time calls, the talent isn't there to keep out of the scenery...

*ie bumpy as fook

I've not driven an E46 or E60, but I have driven a fair few E36s, a couple of E30s and an E21, and I have to say I haven't driven many cars as surefooted and stable in the bends as the 3-Series. Nimble, forgiving, quick to react, ride the bumps and take bad roads in their stride, and as for the back kicking out and putting you in the scenery, you'd either have to be a crap driver or driving like an utter penis. I came very close to buying an E36 328 before I bought the Merc, and considering my current average of 22mpg I might yet go for one