{"id":18991,"date":"2022-04-01T13:30:48","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T17:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=18991"},"modified":"2022-04-01T13:30:48","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T17:30:48","slug":"bmw-m3-xdrive-winter-weapon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=18991","title":{"rendered":"Is the BMW M3 xDrive Top Gear&#8217;s Best Winter Weapon?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The BMW M3 has never really been considered a good winter driver. Throughout M3 history, high-powered engines and rear-wheel drive layouts have made them a tricky to drive once the weather gets cold. Instead, customers in cold climates preferred to buy Audis for their winter sporty needs, due to their Quattro all-wheel drive. However, now that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2022\/03\/28\/bmw-m3-xdrive-rs5-tesla-model-3-drag-race\/\">BMW M3 is offered with all-wheel drive<\/a>, is it a new favorite winter weapon? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.topgear.com\/car-news\/big-reads\/winter-weapons-audi-rs3-vs-bmw-m3-vs-porsche-911-vs-aventador\">Top Gear<\/a> recently put the M3 up against some interesting competition to find out.<\/p>\n<p>In this very interesting four-way comparison, Top Gear took the BMW M3 xDrive, Audi RS3 Sportback, Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS, and \u2014 for punishment \u2014 a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ. While the latter might be incredible on a dry road or circuit, just thinking about driving one on freezing mountainous roads is giving me anxiety.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Audi-RS3-Sportback-82-of-83.jpg\"><noscript><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-422563\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Audi-RS3-Sportback-82-of-83-830x553.jpg\" alt=\"Audi RS3 Sportback 82 of 83 830x553\" width=\"830\" height=\"553\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Audi-RS3-Sportback-82-of-83-830x553.jpg 830w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Audi-RS3-Sportback-82-of-83-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Audi-RS3-Sportback-82-of-83-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Audi-RS3-Sportback-82-of-83-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Audi-RS3-Sportback-82-of-83.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\" title=\"image of Audi RS3 Sportback 82 of 83 830x553\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload alignnone size-medium wp-image-422563\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%20830%20553%22%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Audi-RS3-Sportback-82-of-83-830x553.jpg\" alt=\"Audi RS3 Sportback 82 of 83 830x553\" width=\"830\" height=\"553\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Audi-RS3-Sportback-82-of-83-830x553.jpg 830w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Audi-RS3-Sportback-82-of-83-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Audi-RS3-Sportback-82-of-83-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Audi-RS3-Sportback-82-of-83-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Audi-RS3-Sportback-82-of-83.jpg 1620w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\" title=\"image of Audi RS3 Sportback 82 of 83 830x553\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>All four cars in the test were all-wheel drive but had very different engines and layouts. The BMW M3\u2019s 3.0 liter twin-turbocharged inline-six, with 503 horsepower and 479 lb-ft of torque, made it the second most powerful car in the test, only behind the Raging Bull. Despite that, though, it was one of the slowest vehicles on the UK\u2019s twisty winter roads. While it\u2019s performance is immense on a dry road, and its all-wheel drive system can turn you into a hero on a track, it\u2019s just not capable of wrangling all that power on light snow and freezing pavement, even with winter tires.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the Porsche 911 and Audi RS3 were the two best winter weapons up in the mountains. Of those two, it was actually the Audi RS3 that was deemed the best to drive. Its unflappable grip, reasonable amount of power, and compact size made it far more confidence inspiring than the other three cars. And while its steering was number than the Porsche\u2019s it wasn\u2019t any less engaging than the Bimmers.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Porsche-911-992-5.jpg\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-316429\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Porsche-911-992-5-830x553.jpg\" alt=\"Porsche 911 992 5 830x553\" width=\"830\" height=\"553\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Porsche-911-992-5-830x553.jpg 830w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Porsche-911-992-5-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Porsche-911-992-5-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Porsche-911-992-5-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Porsche-911-992-5.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\" title=\"image of Porsche 911 992 5 830x553\"\/><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload alignnone size-medium wp-image-316429\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%20830%20553%22%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Porsche-911-992-5-830x553.jpg\" alt=\"Porsche 911 992 5 830x553\" width=\"830\" height=\"553\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Porsche-911-992-5-830x553.jpg 830w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Porsche-911-992-5-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Porsche-911-992-5-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Porsche-911-992-5-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Porsche-911-992-5.jpg 1620w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\" title=\"image of Porsche 911 992 5 830x553\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s great that BMW offers xDrive on the M3, as it does make it usable in all year long. However, don\u2019t expect it to be a proper winter performance weapon, it\u2019s just not there yet.<\/p>\n<p>[Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.topgear.com\/car-news\/big-reads\/winter-weapons-audi-rs3-vs-bmw-m3-vs-porsche-911-vs-aventador\">Top Gear<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The BMW M3 has never really been considered a good winter driver. Throughout M3 history, high-powered engines and rear-wheel drive layouts have made them a tricky to drive once the weather gets cold. Instead, customers in cold climates preferred to buy Audis for their winter sporty needs, due to their Quattro all-wheel drive. However, now [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":18992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}