“M cars don’t feel special anymore.” said my friend. “They’re just not there – too weird, too clunky, I don’t know, they’re aren’t what they used to be…”
As much as I don’t want that to be true – it is true. Doesn’t make them bad cars and in fact they’re still great cars. But, there is a problem that has plagued the entire car industry and M-division BMWs aren’t the only ones who are suffering. With all of our carbon fiber license plate frames, titanium pedals, and enamel stickers – you would think the weight of the everyday sports car would be lighter than ever before. But, they’re not. The line of mid-ranged sports cars is wide. From all over the world, we have companies competing ferociously to earn their stake in the market.
Lets start off with a fact. In 2003, the United States had reached its fattest average weight of a new car or “light truck.” Just over two tons; 4,021 pounds was the norm, which was also a record for the country.
CEO’s in Detroit deemed it necessary as people wanted safer cars in crashes, more spaciousness and comfort. Not only were these cars inadequately powered and underperforming – but they were guzzling fuel. As US consumption and emissions topped charts, we were just starting to pay near $5 for a gallon of fuel.
Now, I know what you’re thinking – it’s what I was thinking this entire time as well. “Well, that’s not us – that’s not performance – we are super light, efficient and more powerful than ever. But in reality, the sports car market is as fat as it’s ever been.
First lets look at the mid-level daily driving sports cars:
- Audi RS 5: 4,009-4,420 pounds (pending build)
- Mercedes C63: 3,770 pounds
- Mercedes C63 S: 3,803 pounds
- BMW M4: 3,329-4,055 pounds (pending build)
- BMW M3: 3,540 pounds
- BMW M2: 3,450 pounds
- Corvette C7: 3,347 pounds
- Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio: 3,300 pounds
- Alfa Romeo 4c: 2,465 pounds
So, this is a small sample size – but these cars are competitive with each other and seem to be all everyone on forums want to talk about. While arguing the performance of the cars isn’t the point of this piece – it is interesting to see numbers that are this high.
These after all, are supposed to be “sports cars.” The most disappointing to me, by far, is the BMW M2.
A car, that despite seeing so much widely anticipated hype for being like an “old M3″, weighs in at not even 100 pounds lighter than the M3? How is that even possible? It’s nearly half the size. Regardless of whether or not the car is good is irrelevant. It’s the theory that isn’t aligning itself with M fans and it may end up being another reason why people are losing faith in BMW’s M division.
While Mercedes have always been semi-large and nobody really cares about Audi, we have got one thing: Alfa Romeo. The Italians seems to be keeping the dream alive by showing promising numbers – even by the account of the Giulia. 3,300 pounds for a 500+ HP sedan? Nearly 300 pounds lighter than an M3? With more power? Hmm…advantage Italy.

While I know everyone likes to take a dump on the 4c for its many problems – and it does have many problems – BUT – weight is not one. The point isn’t to say it’s a better car, the point is to say: “OK, we should be learning something from this. We should be showing demand for lighter and smaller cars.” Because, lighter and smaller are always more fun and more fun always means more “special.”
To answer to my friends comment at the top of the page, which I believe is a shared remark between many enthusiasts – even myself: it isn’t because M cars have lost their magic, or that Mercedes isn’t using a V8 or anything even along those lines. It’s due to weight. The cars aren’t slow, not even slightly, but they don’t offer that intangible feeling. That missing link between a car that you enjoy driving versus a car that you will never be able to part from.
The original M3, the E30, weighed under 3,000 pounds. Now, you may have some sort of caveat or argument about seats, safety, navigation systems, or engine size to try and excuse why the new cars are bigger. But, truthfully, I don’t care.
Cars should be getting lighter as they grow through time. Specifically, in our overly-analyzed field of sports cars.
The original GT3 RS, the 996 chassis, weighed in under 3,000 pounds (2,998). The Ferrari Challenge Stradale weighed under 3,000 pounds (2,822). These cars are more than a decade old now but they’re still looked at and idolized in both the Ferrari and Porsche world. Why? Aside from very limited production – their both known for being absolutely blissful to drive. I have tracked a Stradale and it was the best 30 minutes of my driving life to-date.
The car is visceral, it’s loud (not just because of the exhaust) because it’s constantly speaking to you. The rear was jumpy and quick – while the only thing the front of the car wanted to do was attack into the corner. Sure, the front-end and steering got increasingly light and twitchy above 140mph but at least you could FEEL the speed. You felt the car. The feedback was raw, the engine was raw, the experience was everything you wanted a “Ferrari” to be. Now, looking back – it’s not that Ferrari and Porsche are magicians (well, sometimes they are) but it’s because the Stradale along with the 996 RS were simple cars.
They were very light – moderately powered – sports cars. The 996 RS had the little fabric loops to pull the door closed instead of an actual handle. It had the enamel “badge” on the hood of the car instead of an actual Porsche badge. The Stradale (if you had a European model) came with windows made of plastic that would only open in the center. While the doors were just gigantic sheets of carbon fiber. The inside? baron and desolate. A small, barely working radio, a fire extinguisher, and the absence of stupid things like floor mats.
It’s not entirely fair to compare today’s sports cars to two of the best cars Ferrari and Porsche have ever made – BUT – it’s the theory we are looking at. It falls directly inline with why the 4C was loved by both Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson. Which also explains why Clarkson loved the RS and the Stradale. The theory that simplicity done right equates to an amazing car, I believe, should be more relevant to our manufacturers.
Why aren’t more Z28 Camaro styled cars on the market from BMW and Mercedes? Even if the car was half as raw – just something that made you feel like you had a car that matched your enthusiasm for driving. A car that if you were on the fence about going for a drive – would look at you and convince you to take her out. These romances, the little details and flavors that come from cars that are special are what we chase. But, they’re not what is being given to us. We’ve been getting fed a lot of marketing. A lot of “shareholder influence” and some people may not have a problem with the current line up of cars. Because they aren’t “bad” cars, they’re actually rather good. But they’re not enthusiast cars.
LIke manual transmissions, this is something that only a few diehards really care/complain about (though, as you wrote, people unconsciously notice it when they complain about modern sporty cars lacking that intangible something), and to make it worse it’s not something that can be easily resolved, since most of these performance cars are based off of ordinary cars where light weight is a secondary priority.
That said, ever stricter fuel economy standards may help do the job for us, because lighter cars are generally more efficient and need less power for a given amount of performance (as heavy as the current M3/M4 are, they are on paper slightly lighter and more efficient than their predecessors).
The M2 suffers from the fact that its platform is a shrink of a larger platform (like the 1 series was before it, as well as the current and future 5), you will never maximize weight loss that way.
I really enjoyed this comment and agree completely. Thanks for reading (the whole thing)!
Citroën managed to make their Cactus SUV lighter than a Mazda MX5, but at the cost of comfort and practicity. Still some brands are triying to make their cars lighter, especially Peugeot/Citroën and BMW with their new platforms.
And this is why the new MX-5 is so valued
…and the Cayman/718. God I want one so bad.
The 718 is not that light it weights about 1.4 tons.
A lot of that weight gain is attributable to making the cars roomier and having safety systems. Cars could also lose some weight if they got rid of all that tech crap.
Which parts of a car do you define as “tech crap”?
Almost all mainstream “sports cars” are not really sports cars, but pointless and outdated poser cars, because today’s poser dream car is a V12 SUV.
I like the 718. Is that a poser car?
I like Porsche 981. But yes, it also is a “poser” car, albeit to a lesser extent.
Puhhh so many weired stuff in this article…
Lets start with:
“A car, that despite seeing so much widely anticipated hype for being like an “old M3″, weighs in at not even 100 pounds lighter than the M3? How is that even possible? It’s nearly half the size.”
Half the size?!?! Have you ever looked in the specs? Its almost the same size…
You also seem to have absolutely no idea what its like to develop a (sports)car these days.
I’ll tell you some points you have to keep in mind:
– SAFETY!! As a (premium) manufacturer you have to adopt to all new regulations, NCAP stuff etc. this point allone adds so much kilos compared to the requirements at the times of the E30
– Comfort, yes you are reading correctly. Even the “sportiest” sports car has to have some kind of comfortness, otherwise you wouldnt sell enough to get at least a small negative business case which leads me to the next point
– customers/business! They want to have everything: e.g. Apple car play, V8 engine, of course safety – Airbags etc.
There is no way around to add weight to satisfy the majority of your customers. Otherwise you wouldnt sell enough cars to make the development possible at all…thats just economy! You cant build a car like the M2 for a mass market with fully carbon fiber or so, its just not possible in terms of costs..especially in unstabile times with Brexit and bla…
Considering all these facts, 1500-1600kg for a family use AND track car, the M3/4 is very very light.
BTW: The everywhere so praised E46 M3 is crazy 20kg lighter than an M4! Wohoooo ;)
Exactly! So on the one hand the author praises older generation M3 E46 … and on the other hand the M2 exactly undercuts the M3e46 weight… thereby being safer, stiffer everything. So what exactly is his point? That the M2 isn’t 300pounds lighter than e46M3? C’mon… are we in dreamland? The rest is exactly how you describe it. This article had been interesting, when the author had tried to analyze exactly what wheighs what and which costs it would add resp. Cut down weight if more exotic materials would be used. But writing such an article means a lot of work… repeating the weighg bashing story again and again is … boring and easy…
I’m not sure where in the article I praised the e46, specifically. The comparison between the M2 and “M3” in the article – is in comparison to the current generation M3, not an e46. Nor an e30. The point of that graph was to critique the fact that we are so desperate for a car that could “feel” like an old M3 – which ever one that may be to you personally – the M2 received amazing hype, despite the fact that it’s not even 100 pounds lighter than a current M3. Which is a full saloon…
Again – I think somehow you’ve looked at photos and not writing. In no part of the entire piece do I use the e46 or the e30 in comparison to the M2. The comparison taking place in that graph was specifically between the F8x M3 and the M2. In which case – no their not the same size and yes, they are only 90 pounds different in weight…
So let’s do “SAFETY!!”: Explain to me a Lotus? That’s street legal. So is the z28, so is a Ferrari Speciale, so is Alfa Romeo 4c, so is aventador, so is….just about anything amazing. Safety is not what is restraining the process.
Comfort/Business: “These romances, the little details and flavors that come from cars that are special are what we chase. But, they’re not what is being given to us. We’ve been getting fed a lot of marketing. A lot of “shareholder influence” and some people may not have a problem with the current line up of cars. Because they aren’t “bad” cars, they’re actually rather good. But they’re not enthusiast cars.” In case you didn’t get this far – I alluded to the point the cars we are getting are too diluted because of things like business.
Now you may rebut and say “well, they need to make money – you twat!” and I would say what do you call every other model BMW sells? Because they sell a lot of shit these days. But they’re the cars that make them the cash. They should be taking that cash and making cars for enthusiast. Enthusiasts like thin, light, agile cars – not fat ones. Things should be getting better – not worse.
Regardless, I hope this clears things up for you. I don’t post the pictures on this site – the publisher does. So, maybe that is what influenced you.
I dindt say that you compared them, but I mentioned it to show that even the “older cars” weren’t much lighter.
Safety is not what is restraining the process. Oh yes it is! Maybe you should read a little bit about all regulations and NCAP sh*t.. Cars like Lotus, 4C etc. are fortunate enough that they are not rating relevant as they would never be rated at all. An M2 is a different story, its more a less a mass market car so there is a high “risk” to get rated and so you’d better perform as a manufacturer.
And I dont know why people dont get it. We are on a BMW forum here and if its one thing what a BMW always stands for is: sheer driving pleasure with everyday practibility (!!!) – This was the goal of the 2002, the E30 M3 and of course every successor of them! And thats why the are so successfull! They have never been real “sports cars” as an older 911 or so (even Porsche is changing…). It makes absolutely no sense to compare an M2 to a Lotus..
StupidZombie
“M3 is jack of all trades, master of none. ….”
Yes, but thats exactly what the M3 was/is made for and why its so successful.
Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see a real, uncompromised enthusiasts car and I am sure they could make a very good one, but that would be actually not typical for BMW, as they never rly had something like that.
M3 is jack of all trades, master of none. For some this can be good, but others (very few) want something less compromised and more focused.
This article misses another perspective. This whole issue around weight will mater less and less in the future as fewer people will actually drive cars, so you won’t be able to tell how heavy your car is because you won’t be steering it.
Yes. But it matters today.
The heavy cars people are complaining about today were developed 5+ years ago. The cars that are starting to be developed now will have autopilot, and more and more people won’t even know that their car is heavier than it should/could be.
Maybe you’ll have a car that drives you–but I certainly won’t.
It’s quite funny because the 911R weights less than the 996 RS, and today’s Challenge Stradale equivalent, the 675LT, weights only 50kg more despite being turbocharged (plus it was probably dry weight for the Ferrari).
BMW must bring back the CSL logo