**A Critical Review of the BMW M3 Competition: Is the Automatic Transaxle a Step Back?**

As I got behind the wheel of the new BMW M3 Competition, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and trepidation. The car's impressive performance credentials were well-documented, but I was curious to see how the automatic transaxle would hold up against its manual counterpart.

**The Automatic Transaxle: A Suitable Choice for Daily Driving**

While the M3 Competition is undoubtedly a formidable performer, I couldn't help but think that the automatic transaxle might be more suited for daily driving duties. With 95% of customers likely to prioritize convenience over excitement, it's possible that many owners will opt for the automatic gearbox. And while it's certainly effective, I'm not convinced that it quite matches the manual's dynamism and engagement.

**The Manual Transmission: A Driver's Car**

That being said, the M3 Competition is available with a six-speed manual transmission, which I have to say, is absolutely brilliant. The manual feels like a true driver's car, eager to please its occupant and deliver a driving experience that's hard to match. It's incredibly effective, with the engine and drivetrain working in perfect harmony to deliver rapid acceleration and razor-sharp handling.

**The Manual vs. Automatic: A Weight Comparison**

One of the things I was curious about was how much weight the M3 Competition carries, particularly when compared to its manual counterpart. With a dry weight of over 1700 kg, it's significantly heavier than the outgoing M3 F80. However, after spending some time behind the wheel, I have to say that I didn't notice it too much. The car's engine and drivetrain are so effective that they effectively mask any perceived weight.

**Steering and Handling: A True BMW Experience**

One of the things that really stood out to me was the M3 Competition's steering and handling. The electronic power steering is surprisingly good, providing a connection to the road that's hard to match. You can feel every movement of the front axle through your seat and backside, which is incredibly impressive. And when it comes to comparison with other cars in its class – such as the Alfa Romeo Giulia QV or Audi RS4 – I have to say that the M3 Competition truly stands out.

**The Verdict: Is the BMW M3 Competition a True Champion?**

After spending some time behind the wheel of the new BMW M3 Competition, I have to say that it's exceeded my expectations in just about every way. It's a ridiculously good car, with performance credentials that put it firmly at the top of its class. The automatic transaxle may not be the most exciting option, but it's certainly effective – and who knows? You might even find yourself enjoying the convenience.

**Comparing Performance**

But how does the M3 Competition stack up against its rivals in terms of performance? We put our drag coefficient GPS to the test and measured 100-200 km/h acceleration. The result was a blistering 8.01 seconds, which is faster than an Audi RS6 for instance but slower than an Alfa Romeo Giulia QV (8.5) or Mercedes AMG C63 (8.7). However, when comparing the car's performance to that of the competition in head-to-head tests, it truly shines.

**Conclusion**

With its impressive performance credentials and exceptional handling, I have to say that the BMW M3 Competition is an absolute revelation. It's a true driver's car that's capable of putting a smile on even the most seasoned enthusiasts' faces. While the automatic transaxle may not be the most exciting option, it's certainly effective – and who knows? You might even find yourself enjoying the convenience. As I said before, if you're looking for a car that truly delivers, look no further than the BMW M3 Competition.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enit's a mistake my bmw i think this this m3 should have had well you know now that's a rear end what's up ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this pov review by auto top now my name is max and today is a good day because we are taking the bmw m3 competition g80 and this car we have borrowed at bmw valjoven in eindhoven so big thanks to them for uh getting us this car so quickly today i'm going to show you around it show you the spec we've got it in we've covered a lot of bmw m3 stuff already so i'm going to keep it relatively compact this review uh walk around it take it for a drive towards the autobahn for an autobahn blast but before we begin don't forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell if you want to receive updates when we upload a new video and you can also check out our store ignitioncollection.com where we have a number of products namely our own watch brand with swiss made watches this is one of them we also sell the draggy gps performance box you see in the acceleration videos there and if you would like to buy a watch well what the hell let's let's throw a discount code in there because i'm so happy with the new m3 if you use the code m3 g80 you will get a 10 discount on any of our watches so go check it out in the top right corner if you like so let's take a look at this car brooklyn gray is this car this color brooklyn grow in german brooklyn grey it's very close to nardo gray i would say but it does suit this car very well we of course have the massive new kidneys i i mean i don't know i i really like them ever since i saw them in real life i absolutely love them i think the car looks so aggressive it looks so different from for example an m340i and i really really like that and i think you will change your mind as well if you see this car on the road i think a lot of you will change your mind because it's just a car that works in real life but it doesn't really work on photos this car also has the carbon fiber exterior package you can see that because it's got these air intakes or air inlets in the front bumper in carbon fiber the grille is black of course so are these lower parts and we also have the competition wheels of course these are 19 inch at the front 20 inch at the back 275 section tires at the front which is really wide at 285 at the rear this car has the m compound brakes with the black brake calipers as you can see so no ceramic brakes on this car but we'll get to that in a minute uh the side blades on the m3 don't understand why this is i this is really cheap plastic don't really like that i think it should have been gloss black or probably carbon fiber with the exterior package that would have been much cooler m3 competition badge van life overnight oven this car is for sale there that's it's their demo car so if you're interested in having a bmw m3 competition quickly in a great spec go check it out carbon fiber mirror caps carbon fiber roof the mirror caps are part of the exterior package the roof is standard as you probably know and the rear hallelujah now that's a rear end right i absolutely love it i think this is one of the best parts of the car they have done this so well the wide body at the rear and you can see that with the m3 especially because you have those rear doors that this is so much wider that's really really cool we've got a black side skirt as well there and the carbon fiber diffuser for the exterior package and the rest is black carbon fiber spoiler and if you sit behind it you can actually see that these two tips line up with the fins on the roof these ones that's actually pretty cool so i guess it serves a purpose which is great all righty let's take a look at the engine the beating heart the s58 twin turbocharged inline six straight six which is a freaking powerhouse it is so so powerful and it just works really well in this car unfortunately we don't have the beautiful carbon fiber strut anymore uh we had in the f-80 the previous car but it is much stiffer at the front and the the bracing in here has a big part in that as well as the floor underneath it's all connected at the front and to give the front end a really stiff character or make it really stiff to give the front end a very nice front end but this engine is actually it's based on the b58 of course you find in an m340i but it's actually quite different because a couple of examples it's called bigger different turbochargers two bigger monoscroll turbochargers it's also got the crank of a bmw m4 gt3 car and it's got a 3d printed cylinder head to be able to cope with the injection of 350 bar so that's how one of the reasons why this car has 60 horsepower more than the s55 the previous m3 engine this has 510 horsepower and 650 newton meters of torque which is absolutely mental it is so powerful this this engine and it really does feel quite different from a b58 so on the inside this is actually quite funny because i don't know who spec'd this car but apparently they didn't want the carbon ceramic brakes because as i said we've got these new m compound brakes um but we have a track pack here in the netherlands i don't know if that's for every country but we have it which includes the carbon fiber interior the carbon fiber bucket seats the the m drivers package m drive professional a couple of other things i think but that's the most important and the carbon ceramic brakes but this car has everything the track pack has except for the ceramic brakes so i don't know maybe it's intentional that they just didn't want the ceramics on here but i thought that was quite funny i sat down too early because look at that that is absolutely gorgeous man those two seats here it is beautiful if you have a a very annoying passenger they can really poke you in the kidneys or in the neck here but man they look awesome i would definitely recommend going for these seats because the seating position is also freaking perfect you can sit so low they're actually lower than the regular sport seats so if you get these seats you can sit lower and my god the driving position in this car is just ridiculously spot-on it's probably the best i've experienced in a in a road car it's absolutely crazy and you can see them they are they are super hardcore and they have uh holes for a four-point harness as well but they are not uncomfortable so they're not hard they're just really well sculpted and you sit just perfectly and you also have this little holder here for well you know whatever that is yeah they are gorgeous and awesome i also love this color this orange leather orange interior we also have that on our m3 so this is pretty much the interior we also have so i'm really stoked to see that in the flesh let's go for a drive i'll start it up so you guys can hear it now the sound it has gotten a little bit less extreme compared to the f-80s of your so especially the first ones with an m performance exhaust were absolutely ridiculous this is a lot less impressive especially revving it but when you drive it it actually sounds pretty decent but still there is some room for improvement so if you would get an aftermarket exhaust i would uh understand and the main reason for that is that they have developed this engine with this exhaust with an opf so they could incorporate that in the development of the car and the last couple of years of the previous m3 they just had to throw an opf on there and it just didn't really work all right so um m1 is my setting for driving towards the ultraman which is traction control all the way off gearbox in the most ferocious setting sport plus for the engine sport for the suspension comfort for the steering and sport for the brakes which is also new the fact that you can configure your brakes alright now the moment you get into this car throw it into a corner for the first time and accelerate out of it you are sold on this car i have to admit before this car came out i was a bit worried about the weight and about the fact that i was a bit scared it might feel like an m340i plus something a bit too civilized a bit too polished well there's none of that the power feels absolutely relentless it's aggressive and it is ridiculously fast it feels so freaking powerful and the main thing the main difference between this car and the predecessor the f80 it feels super controlled and focused so the power is contained really really well it feels like it's under pressure like it's on edge but it's so focused and contained that it just becomes this freaking weapon it grips like crazy we've got pirelli p0s today which you guys know i'm not the biggest fan of but i think this car just works it has so much grip the m differential works so well uh it just has it has this focus and this containment and control the f-80 just didn't i mean that's that's not a whole lot of oversteer for that kind of power input and it is so freaking impressive i am absolutely blown away by the chassis on this car and the just the power delivery it it just feels so aggressive while being so controlled and it's just a feeling you hardly ever get it reminds me of a porsche 911 turbo s the new one it has that same like controlled craziness it's it's insane so we're going to select m2 and we're going for automatic for the gearbox now let's talk about we're going to hit m mode for the sport display let's talk about this automatic gearbox okay i'm going to floor it and let it shift for itself you can hear the shifts 150 milliseconds oh okay so apparently this is cool as well 150 milliseconds for the zf8 speed i've talked about the gearbox a lot in my track review but there is a slight delay in the shift which the mdct double clutch didn't have that was a weird dip all right it doesn't feel as aggressive as the md ct and i think it's a mistake by bmw i think this this m3 should have had the mbct is this more suitable uh we're getting a tire warning though no worry it's all good but i think yes this car is this automatic gearbox is more suited for daily driving i think 95 of the customers are not going to care but those times you do want that mdct you are going to miss it you're going to wonder why they changed it it is a very effective drivetrain though i mean don't get me wrong it's a really good drivetrain as well but is it as exciting are those brakes these amp compound brakes are insane they are really really good um but is it as exciting as an mdct m3 f80 no and i think that's a mistake but of course the m3 is also available with a manual gearbox a six-speed well in most countries with 480 horsepower and i think that this m3 competition automatic and the m3 manual are going to feel like two completely different cars and i really like that because this as i said it feels like a weapon it feels like something really effective designed to fulfill one goal to have one purpose and it's incredible to drive the the way they've set up this chassis the way the drive frame feels it's all incredible but i think that the manual is going to feel like the driver's car it's going to feel like it wants you it's going to feel like it wants to please you and i think that's a really important difference and i can't wait to drive our manual because this is such an impressive car but i think the manual is going to be the better one the more fun one to drive i am wondering if we're going to miss the 100 newton meters that is the difference between the automatic and the manual gearbox this has 650 as i said the manual has 550 so i'm curious to see if you're going to notice that apart from the 30 horsepower difference of course even though we've seen a couple of m3s on dinos and they have way more power than bmw claims so i guess that's a tradition bmw won't get rid of luckily okay let's go for manual and talk about the weight because at over 1700 kilos dry it is quite heavy and it is around 150 kilos heavier than the outgoing m3f80 do you notice it not really as i said it was one of the things i was worried about but you don't really notice it because the engine the drivetrain is so effective it's so powerful and the way they've set up the chassis is is just incredible and i don't know how they are able to do this at bmw every time but the steering is is electronic the power steering but you have a connection to the car but you have a connection to the car that is unrivaled i mean you feel like your hands control the front axle and your foot controls the rear axle you feel everything that's going on on the rear axle through your seat through your butt it is so impressive and i think you know if you compare it to some of the competition alfa romeo giulia q it's getting a bit old audi rs4 not really comparable because it feels like just a completely different car it's it's nowhere near as aggressive and as focused as an m3 and the new mercedes amg c63 is probably going to have a four cylinder uh hybrid drive frame so i think within a few months or years bmw is going to have the kingdom to itself because this is really hard to match it is a ridiculously good car and it it has exceeded my expectations which work quite high such a powerful car and if you look at the performance that's just confirmed because of course we've measured 100 to 200 kilometers an hour with our draggy gps performance box you can buy that directly underneath the video we measured it at 8.01 seconds which is seriously impressive that's faster than an audi rs6 for instance but if you look at the competition and now the rs4 9.95 that's almost two seconds quicker this card almost two seconds that's completely different league uh an alpha julia q 8.5 mercedes amg c63 8.7 so this car really delivers and i mean it exceeded my expectations and they were quite high to begin with so yeah i know the front end is is quite tough at first uh the price has increased the weight has increased but the car as a whole is so much better than the previous one and i think you're not going to care about any of the drawbacks when you drive this car because it it just sells itself it's insane and with that i'm going to end it i hope you enjoyed it you can subscribe by clicking the big button right in the middle you can also check out this video of me driving this car on track and you can also check out this playlist of pov reviews thanks for watching see you the next one byeit's a mistake my bmw i think this this m3 should have had well you know now that's a rear end what's up ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this pov review by auto top now my name is max and today is a good day because we are taking the bmw m3 competition g80 and this car we have borrowed at bmw valjoven in eindhoven so big thanks to them for uh getting us this car so quickly today i'm going to show you around it show you the spec we've got it in we've covered a lot of bmw m3 stuff already so i'm going to keep it relatively compact this review uh walk around it take it for a drive towards the autobahn for an autobahn blast but before we begin don't forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell if you want to receive updates when we upload a new video and you can also check out our store ignitioncollection.com where we have a number of products namely our own watch brand with swiss made watches this is one of them we also sell the draggy gps performance box you see in the acceleration videos there and if you would like to buy a watch well what the hell let's let's throw a discount code in there because i'm so happy with the new m3 if you use the code m3 g80 you will get a 10 discount on any of our watches so go check it out in the top right corner if you like so let's take a look at this car brooklyn gray is this car this color brooklyn grow in german brooklyn grey it's very close to nardo gray i would say but it does suit this car very well we of course have the massive new kidneys i i mean i don't know i i really like them ever since i saw them in real life i absolutely love them i think the car looks so aggressive it looks so different from for example an m340i and i really really like that and i think you will change your mind as well if you see this car on the road i think a lot of you will change your mind because it's just a car that works in real life but it doesn't really work on photos this car also has the carbon fiber exterior package you can see that because it's got these air intakes or air inlets in the front bumper in carbon fiber the grille is black of course so are these lower parts and we also have the competition wheels of course these are 19 inch at the front 20 inch at the back 275 section tires at the front which is really wide at 285 at the rear this car has the m compound brakes with the black brake calipers as you can see so no ceramic brakes on this car but we'll get to that in a minute uh the side blades on the m3 don't understand why this is i this is really cheap plastic don't really like that i think it should have been gloss black or probably carbon fiber with the exterior package that would have been much cooler m3 competition badge van life overnight oven this car is for sale there that's it's their demo car so if you're interested in having a bmw m3 competition quickly in a great spec go check it out carbon fiber mirror caps carbon fiber roof the mirror caps are part of the exterior package the roof is standard as you probably know and the rear hallelujah now that's a rear end right i absolutely love it i think this is one of the best parts of the car they have done this so well the wide body at the rear and you can see that with the m3 especially because you have those rear doors that this is so much wider that's really really cool we've got a black side skirt as well there and the carbon fiber diffuser for the exterior package and the rest is black carbon fiber spoiler and if you sit behind it you can actually see that these two tips line up with the fins on the roof these ones that's actually pretty cool so i guess it serves a purpose which is great all righty let's take a look at the engine the beating heart the s58 twin turbocharged inline six straight six which is a freaking powerhouse it is so so powerful and it just works really well in this car unfortunately we don't have the beautiful carbon fiber strut anymore uh we had in the f-80 the previous car but it is much stiffer at the front and the the bracing in here has a big part in that as well as the floor underneath it's all connected at the front and to give the front end a really stiff character or make it really stiff to give the front end a very nice front end but this engine is actually it's based on the b58 of course you find in an m340i but it's actually quite different because a couple of examples it's called bigger different turbochargers two bigger monoscroll turbochargers it's also got the crank of a bmw m4 gt3 car and it's got a 3d printed cylinder head to be able to cope with the injection of 350 bar so that's how one of the reasons why this car has 60 horsepower more than the s55 the previous m3 engine this has 510 horsepower and 650 newton meters of torque which is absolutely mental it is so powerful this this engine and it really does feel quite different from a b58 so on the inside this is actually quite funny because i don't know who spec'd this car but apparently they didn't want the carbon ceramic brakes because as i said we've got these new m compound brakes um but we have a track pack here in the netherlands i don't know if that's for every country but we have it which includes the carbon fiber interior the carbon fiber bucket seats the the m drivers package m drive professional a couple of other things i think but that's the most important and the carbon ceramic brakes but this car has everything the track pack has except for the ceramic brakes so i don't know maybe it's intentional that they just didn't want the ceramics on here but i thought that was quite funny i sat down too early because look at that that is absolutely gorgeous man those two seats here it is beautiful if you have a a very annoying passenger they can really poke you in the kidneys or in the neck here but man they look awesome i would definitely recommend going for these seats because the seating position is also freaking perfect you can sit so low they're actually lower than the regular sport seats so if you get these seats you can sit lower and my god the driving position in this car is just ridiculously spot-on it's probably the best i've experienced in a in a road car it's absolutely crazy and you can see them they are they are super hardcore and they have uh holes for a four-point harness as well but they are not uncomfortable so they're not hard they're just really well sculpted and you sit just perfectly and you also have this little holder here for well you know whatever that is yeah they are gorgeous and awesome i also love this color this orange leather orange interior we also have that on our m3 so this is pretty much the interior we also have so i'm really stoked to see that in the flesh let's go for a drive i'll start it up so you guys can hear it now the sound it has gotten a little bit less extreme compared to the f-80s of your so especially the first ones with an m performance exhaust were absolutely ridiculous this is a lot less impressive especially revving it but when you drive it it actually sounds pretty decent but still there is some room for improvement so if you would get an aftermarket exhaust i would uh understand and the main reason for that is that they have developed this engine with this exhaust with an opf so they could incorporate that in the development of the car and the last couple of years of the previous m3 they just had to throw an opf on there and it just didn't really work all right so um m1 is my setting for driving towards the ultraman which is traction control all the way off gearbox in the most ferocious setting sport plus for the engine sport for the suspension comfort for the steering and sport for the brakes which is also new the fact that you can configure your brakes alright now the moment you get into this car throw it into a corner for the first time and accelerate out of it you are sold on this car i have to admit before this car came out i was a bit worried about the weight and about the fact that i was a bit scared it might feel like an m340i plus something a bit too civilized a bit too polished well there's none of that the power feels absolutely relentless it's aggressive and it is ridiculously fast it feels so freaking powerful and the main thing the main difference between this car and the predecessor the f80 it feels super controlled and focused so the power is contained really really well it feels like it's under pressure like it's on edge but it's so focused and contained that it just becomes this freaking weapon it grips like crazy we've got pirelli p0s today which you guys know i'm not the biggest fan of but i think this car just works it has so much grip the m differential works so well uh it just has it has this focus and this containment and control the f-80 just didn't i mean that's that's not a whole lot of oversteer for that kind of power input and it is so freaking impressive i am absolutely blown away by the chassis on this car and the just the power delivery it it just feels so aggressive while being so controlled and it's just a feeling you hardly ever get it reminds me of a porsche 911 turbo s the new one it has that same like controlled craziness it's it's insane so we're going to select m2 and we're going for automatic for the gearbox now let's talk about we're going to hit m mode for the sport display let's talk about this automatic gearbox okay i'm going to floor it and let it shift for itself you can hear the shifts 150 milliseconds oh okay so apparently this is cool as well 150 milliseconds for the zf8 speed i've talked about the gearbox a lot in my track review but there is a slight delay in the shift which the mdct double clutch didn't have that was a weird dip all right it doesn't feel as aggressive as the md ct and i think it's a mistake by bmw i think this this m3 should have had the mbct is this more suitable uh we're getting a tire warning though no worry it's all good but i think yes this car is this automatic gearbox is more suited for daily driving i think 95 of the customers are not going to care but those times you do want that mdct you are going to miss it you're going to wonder why they changed it it is a very effective drivetrain though i mean don't get me wrong it's a really good drivetrain as well but is it as exciting are those brakes these amp compound brakes are insane they are really really good um but is it as exciting as an mdct m3 f80 no and i think that's a mistake but of course the m3 is also available with a manual gearbox a six-speed well in most countries with 480 horsepower and i think that this m3 competition automatic and the m3 manual are going to feel like two completely different cars and i really like that because this as i said it feels like a weapon it feels like something really effective designed to fulfill one goal to have one purpose and it's incredible to drive the the way they've set up this chassis the way the drive frame feels it's all incredible but i think that the manual is going to feel like the driver's car it's going to feel like it wants you it's going to feel like it wants to please you and i think that's a really important difference and i can't wait to drive our manual because this is such an impressive car but i think the manual is going to be the better one the more fun one to drive i am wondering if we're going to miss the 100 newton meters that is the difference between the automatic and the manual gearbox this has 650 as i said the manual has 550 so i'm curious to see if you're going to notice that apart from the 30 horsepower difference of course even though we've seen a couple of m3s on dinos and they have way more power than bmw claims so i guess that's a tradition bmw won't get rid of luckily okay let's go for manual and talk about the weight because at over 1700 kilos dry it is quite heavy and it is around 150 kilos heavier than the outgoing m3f80 do you notice it not really as i said it was one of the things i was worried about but you don't really notice it because the engine the drivetrain is so effective it's so powerful and the way they've set up the chassis is is just incredible and i don't know how they are able to do this at bmw every time but the steering is is electronic the power steering but you have a connection to the car but you have a connection to the car that is unrivaled i mean you feel like your hands control the front axle and your foot controls the rear axle you feel everything that's going on on the rear axle through your seat through your butt it is so impressive and i think you know if you compare it to some of the competition alfa romeo giulia q it's getting a bit old audi rs4 not really comparable because it feels like just a completely different car it's it's nowhere near as aggressive and as focused as an m3 and the new mercedes amg c63 is probably going to have a four cylinder uh hybrid drive frame so i think within a few months or years bmw is going to have the kingdom to itself because this is really hard to match it is a ridiculously good car and it it has exceeded my expectations which work quite high such a powerful car and if you look at the performance that's just confirmed because of course we've measured 100 to 200 kilometers an hour with our draggy gps performance box you can buy that directly underneath the video we measured it at 8.01 seconds which is seriously impressive that's faster than an audi rs6 for instance but if you look at the competition and now the rs4 9.95 that's almost two seconds quicker this card almost two seconds that's completely different league uh an alpha julia q 8.5 mercedes amg c63 8.7 so this car really delivers and i mean it exceeded my expectations and they were quite high to begin with so yeah i know the front end is is quite tough at first uh the price has increased the weight has increased but the car as a whole is so much better than the previous one and i think you're not going to care about any of the drawbacks when you drive this car because it it just sells itself it's insane and with that i'm going to end it i hope you enjoyed it you can subscribe by clicking the big button right in the middle you can also check out this video of me driving this car on track and you can also check out this playlist of pov reviews thanks for watching see you the next one bye\n"