CarandDriver: M2 vs GT350

[Minn19]

Interesting reading the reviews and no surprise they say the ride is too firm. I felt the same way about my M3 with static suspension and my M4 with adaptive, both on 18s. It didn't bother me until I drove other cars, especially the GT350 with the mag ride. The M3/4 would get tedious even in comfort mode and I can drive the GT350 in sport all day. The GT350 really has the best of both worlds IMO for a sports car.

That is probably the biggest area that BMW is falling behind in. Their current regular cars wallow and have weird dampening tuning, while the M cars are to stiff and also have weird dampening. They really need to spend some R&D money on suspension equipment and tuning if they want to get back to what they claim to be.

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[cosmo]

I'd rather have a stiff ride than tramlining to be honest. The Focus RS is still one of the more stiff rides I've had in a stock vehicle, harsher than either of these for sure.

Drove an M2, honestly really liked it. Steering was better, felt smaller, ratios were better on the street and it ends up being and feeling just about as fast as the 350. You miss the V8, but an akrapovic M2 sounds pretty fucking glorious as well.

 

[J_Maher_AMG]

Interesting reading the reviews and no surprise they say the ride is too firm. I felt the same way about my M3 with static suspension and my M4 with adaptive, both on 18s. It didn't bother me until I drove other cars, especially the GT350 with the mag ride. The M3/4 would get tedious even in comfort mode and I can drive the GT350 in sport all day. The GT350 really has the best of both worlds IMO for a sports car.

That is probably the biggest area that BMW is falling behind in. Their current regular cars wallow and have weird dampening tuning, while the M cars are to stiff and also have weird dampening. They really need to spend some R&D money on suspension equipment and tuning if they want to get back to what they claim to be.

Seems like they are certainly catering to the masses more than the purists and drivers that is for sure. Makes sense that the M cars would now be too stiff. After all, look at the direction their regular series cars have taken, and how the 3 series is no longer the leader in the sport sedan segment. I guess everyone just assumes that the M division would hold strong, but the fact that their suspensions are so uncompromisingly stiff just tells me they are simply doing that to appeal to the masses who buy BMW's based on their brand image, and to most people stiff means sporty.

The guys that don't know any better assumes the stiffer it is the more sporty and better handling it will have... when in reality those are just bandaids for poor suspension development, similar to how heavy cars that handle well are extremely stiff (i.e ZL1 1LE).

I used to be a big BMW fan even though I never owned one, but they have literally nothing today in terms of a sports car that I would even be remotely interested in. I do really like the X5 though

 

[Minn19]

I'd rather have a stiff ride than tramlining to be honest. The Focus RS is still one of the more stiff rides I've had in a stock vehicle, harsher than either of these for sure.

Drove an M2, honestly really liked it. Steering was better, felt smaller, ratios were better on the street and it ends up being and feeling just about as fast as the 350. You miss the V8, but an akrapovic M2 sounds pretty fucking glorious as well.

Not me, the tramlining isn't that bad IMO and it isn't nearly as constant or present as the bad suspension tuning.

 

[J_Maher_AMG]

I'd rather have a stiff ride than tramlining to be honest. The Focus RS is still one of the more stiff rides I've had in a stock vehicle, harsher than either of these for sure.

Drove an M2, honestly really liked it. Steering was better, felt smaller, ratios were better on the street and it ends up being and feeling just about as fast as the 350. You miss the V8, but an akrapovic M2 sounds pretty fucking glorious as well.

Yeah, I'd rather have to put an ounce of effort into steering over poor rutted roads than have a car thats so stiff you are miserable after being in it for a few hours...

Those inline 6's do sound great, and in their segment, it is a toss up between that and the RS3 with the inline 5. CLA45 admittedly doesn't sound anywhere near as good, though it certainly doesn't sound bad for a 4cyl, especially in the cabin.

 

[J_Maher_AMG]

Not me, the tramlining isn't that bad IMO and it isn't nearly as constant or present as the bad suspension tuning.

Fact man, tramlining can be helped more often than not with different tires or an alignment. Much more effort and cost into fixing poor suspension tuning, and you will probably lose performance then as well.

 

[cosmo]

Not me, the tramlining isn't that bad IMO and it isn't nearly as constant or present as the bad suspension tuning.

Yeah, I'd rather have to put an ounce of effort into steering over poor rutted roads than have a car thats so stiff you are miserable after being in it for a few hours...

Those inline 6's do sound great, and in their segment, it is a toss up between that and the RS3 with the inline 5. CLA45 admittedly doesn't sound anywhere near as good, though it certainly doesn't sound bad for a 4cyl, especially in the cabin.

I live in Michigan. It's poor roads, everywhere. It is sometimes a bit alarming how much it pulls.

I'd recommend you guys take a shot in it. Always good to learn about the competition. I really feel like the M2 is a great car.

 

[Minn19]

I live in Michigan. It's poor roads, everywhere. It is sometimes a bit alarming how much it pulls.

I'd recommend you guys take a shot in it. Always good to learn about the competition. I really feel like the M2 is a great car.

I've driven/tracked/owned enough of the BMWs current cars (Ms and non Ms) to know what they are all about.

In a nutshell, I'll say this from my experience with both. If you value straight line speed, refinement (especially interior), options, badge, customer service, dealership experience and maybe looks, get an M car.

If you value a much better overall driving experience/car, N/A power and one of the best stock exhausts on a car today, get a GT350.

 

[J_Maher_AMG]

I live in Michigan. It's poor roads, everywhere. It is sometimes a bit alarming how much it pulls.

I'd recommend you guys take a shot in it. Always good to learn about the competition. I really feel like the M2 is a great car.

It probably is a good car, but anything with a real harsh ride I wouldn't be interested in. Also, the M2 isn't competition. It may be priced similarly to the GT350 in the US, but in Canada the two are essentially $20,000 apart in base price.

But quite frankly I wouldn't be interested in the M2 anyways. If I were looking for cars in that power range, a last gen Cayman GTS/GT4 or Boxster Spyder would be my only considerations.

Not hating on the M2, as I think its a great car for the segment it is in based on it's actual rivals, but for me it doesn't have a special enough engine/powertrain, and the power levels nowhere near make up for the lack of high revving or NA character IMO. For its size it is also incredibly porky. A Boxster Spyder for comparison has 10 more hp but also weighs in under 3000lbs... couple those things with the harsh ride and its not something that I would even entertain as it just wouldn't be a satisfying car to own for me personally.

Compared to the GT350, the only single thing it has over it is the badge appeal and possibly build quality. I guess physical size as well if having a smaller, truer to roots sports car matters to you (which it does to me) but the weight of it for being as small as it is kills its potential to be not just good, but great.

 

[J_Maher_AMG]

I live in Michigan. It's poor roads, everywhere. It is sometimes a bit alarming how much it pulls.

I'd recommend you guys take a shot in it. Always good to learn about the competition. I really feel like the M2 is a great car.

You should come to NL if you think your roads are bad :lol:

It certainly does take some getting used to. And quite frankly, it isn't a vehicle that I enjoy the thoughts of doing extended highway trips in because of the fact that you can't simply "relax" as much as you would in a normal car. I certainly don't do any highway pulls or high speed out of nervousness about getting caught or thrown by one of the ruts that are seriously out of control here.

For what I use the car for, through town and back roads where ruts are largely non-existent and you only have to deal with pitting and potholes in the pavement, I'll take that little bit of pull in the steering wheel gladly for a liveable suspension that can also pull well over 1.0 G's on a skid pad

 

[cosmo]

It probably is a good car, but anything with a real harsh ride I wouldn't be interested in. Also, the M2 isn't competition. It may be priced similarly to the GT350 in the US, but in Canada the two are essentially $20,000 apart in base price.

But quite frankly I wouldn't be interested in the M2 anyways. If I were looking for cars in that power range, a last gen Cayman GTS/GT4 or Boxster Spyder would be my only considerations.

Not hating on the M2, as I think its a great car for the segment it is in based on it's actual rivals, but for me it doesn't have a special enough engine/powertrain, and the power levels nowhere near make up for the lack of high revving or NA character IMO. For its size it is also incredibly porky. A Boxster Spyder for comparison has 10 more hp but also weighs in under 3000lbs... couple those things with the harsh ride and its not something that I would even entertain as it just wouldn't be a satisfying car to own for me personally.

Compared to the GT350, the only single thing it has over it is the badge appeal and possibly build quality. I guess physical size as well if having a smaller, truer to roots sports car matters to you (which it does to me) but the weight of it for being as small as it is kills its potential to be not just good, but great.

All good points, but I feel the M2's ride is between the standard and sport in the GT350. If you feel it's fine, the M2 will be fine as well.

I would agree about the price difference then for you, the BMW is $20000 more? Then definitely GT350. IF it's $20000 less, I'd take the M2 and some mods but preserve the warranty.

I wouldn't put much merit into the power difference between the two unless you're interested in higher speed driving. The gearing of the M2 is a LOT shorter. Dramatically shorter. The 350 will gap it from a 50 roll but will not pull on it until then as long as the M2 hooks, and that's being heavily undertired in comparison.

 

[Trackaholic]

I think the M2 is probably BMW's best car at this time.

The acceleration to 60 looks great, but the 1/4 mile time is quite a bit different than the GT350, which makes me wonder how much of the launch is due to the dual-clutch VS. the stick shift in the GT350. If you got a stick shift in the M2 would be be a bit slower?

One thing on the GT350 tramlining, is how much is dependent on tire wear. My GT350 felt horrible, but then I got new tires (still the OEM PSS's) and the tramlining totally vanished. Now my first set were pretty much worn down to the cords, but I was still very surprised at what a difference the new tires made. I would agree that at its worst, my GT350 tramlining was pretty bad and very annoying on certain roads. At its best, I don't even notice it.

There is a lot to like about the M2, but for the price I wish BMW had done something a bit more special with the interior and engine.

-T

 

[Kurac]

My issue with the M2 is that it's borderline cute. The 350 looks mean and beautiful.

 

[cosmo]

I think the M2 is probably BMW's best car at this time.

The acceleration to 60 looks great, but the 1/4 mile time is quite a bit different than the GT350, which makes me wonder how much of the launch is due to the dual-clutch VS. the stick shift in the GT350. If you got a stick shift in the M2 would be be a bit slower?

One thing on the GT350 tramlining, is how much is dependent on tire wear. My GT350 felt horrible, but then I got new tires (still the OEM PSS's) and the tramlining totally vanished. Now my first set were pretty much worn down to the cords, but I was still very surprised at what a difference the new tires made. I would agree that at its worst, my GT350 tramlining was pretty bad and very annoying on certain roads. At its best, I don't even notice it.

There is a lot to like about the M2, but for the price I wish BMW had done something a bit more special with the interior and engine.

-T

No doubt the manual will be a bit slower, but they will be very very close.

That's good to hear about the tires, but mine are still relatively new and tramline. What tires did you pickup?

The interior has an obnoxious amount of "M" in it haha. But I do wish they had better gauging. I don't mind the engine actually, and prefer it to the M3/M4.

 

[FogcitySF]

Agree, the GT350's Magneride is light years ahead of anything BMW is producing. Think given equivalent skilled driver, the GT350 is better in the turns. While only the R version has been tested vs the M2 on other tracks such as MRLS and VIR, there is a huge difference in times between the two.

Think this test is understating the gap in performance between the GT350 and M2.

Interesting reading the reviews and no surprise they say the ride is too firm. I felt the same way about my M3 with static suspension and my M4 with adaptive, both on 18s. It didn't bother me until I drove other cars, especially the GT350 with the mag ride. The M3/4 would get tedious even in comfort mode and I can drive the GT350 in sport all day. The GT350 really has the best of both worlds IMO for a sports car.

That is probably the biggest area that BMW is falling behind in. Their current regular cars wallow and have weird dampening tuning, while the M cars are to stiff and also have weird dampening. They really need to spend some R&D money on suspension equipment and tuning if they want to get back to what they claim to be.

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