The best late 1980s sports car is...! E30 BMW M3 v Porsche 911 Club Sport

Dan Prosser drives the two greatest sports cars of the late 1980s, the E30 BMW M3 and Porsche 911 Club Sport, to decide which is the best of that era. The M3 is a true homologation special but it's essentially derived from a conventional saloon car, while the Club Sport has no real racing pedigree of its own but is a sports car through and through.

BMW versus Porsche, M3 versus 911, four cylinders versus six, front-engined versus rear-engined – which will come out on top?

#porsche911 #bmwm3 #sportscars

0:00 Introduction
0:29 M3
6:12 911
12:41 The winner

[lingenieurdecrypte]

I've had three E30 M3 and quite a few more air cooled 911s.
The E30 M3 comes alive and thrills when REALLY attacking a secondary road, while the 911 is more of an event at a gentle pace - while remaining good when tanking on.
So the choice depends on use case.

[adrianbunyard]

Steve Sutcliffe is awesome. He can pedal a car around a track for sure.

[BBUB]

From my personal experience they are both really great drives in slightly different ways. 911 has all the charms associated with being rear-engined and air-cooled while the M3 has a more nimble feel.

[harryspeakup]

Both excellent cars though the 944 Turbo was also very much in the mix in the late 1980s at the same sort of price point. and unlike the other two remains sufficiently affordable to be actually usable for people who aren't multi-millionaires. Incidentally most examples of the E30 M3 are 200 hp, it's only the various Evo models that are 215 hp plus. However, neither of these cars is about straight line go, so it probably doesn't matter

[DS]

Brillant presentation, really worth watching!

[patricebaumel]

This is slowy turning into my favourite car podcast. You guys have great chemistry, knowledge and passion. And interesting content!

[TiVehicleservices]

Would take either.. but there's something very special about a club sport, and they're soo rare, still being slept on in my opinion compared to other RS porsches. Great video Dan & Andrew, hope youre both well 👍

[brijkotecha]

M3’s stance as its wheels bob up and down while the body lies flat 👌🏽 911… When did it become £150k 😢 Damn!! Wasn’t that long ago one could be had under £50k! Great video 👊🏽

[richardharrison]

You were lucky to have nice weather, this autumn was so foggy where you were filming.

[KarstenRefsdal-du]

Appreciate the work you are doing! Thank you!

[stevec]

Grew up a massive fan of both makers, dreamt of owning a 911, spent many years driving friends versions but when compared to a BMW, imo the engine does it.
The E30 M3 has a special gift for a car that had a smaller engine then their competitors. The fact that it won races and dominated all other manufacturers was the selling point of this car and other models in the range.
If I had the choose one of these two, M3 all day. Thanks for the entertaining video. Both care are gorgeous examples.

[fergusryan]

Great article and very well balanced overall. Having owned a 1988 Carrera CS for over 12 years (now with 129K miles) I'd challenge the point about it being a variant of, and not much different to, a 'regular' 3.2. Equally to the engine points raised, I feel AF gives the wrong impression - they were/are different (sodium valves, higher rev limit, revised management chip and factory blueprinting) Equally the gear ratios and shift mechanism were revised for the CS. As others have stated, the 964 RS had similar upgrades to differentiate it from the regular 964 C2 so I don't think a CS should bee considered as lesser to an RS - I know I may be viewed as biased !!

[TexasRiverRat]

I started out in air cooled Beetles, graduated to BMW 2002's and after all these years I'm on my second Cayman but if I had to choose it would be the M3. There's a loyal following for the 911 but the Cayman is the real drivers car. Engine is in the right place!

[AlfaQuad]

Another great upload guys. That Porsche was a dream car for me when I started driving. Instead, I had to settle for a Ford Meteor! 😂

[zakelwe]

I've loved the 911 CS since it was featured on the Now Hear This tape they stuck to the front of Fast Lane magazine with Mark Hales and the F40. I think Chris Harris bought that car.
Just the right size and power for a British B road.

PS The BMW seats are how to do the M sport red and blue correctly, not like flippin' Blackpool pleasure beach like modern cars with the badge on...

[doca]

I’ve had every iteration of the M3 up to f80, and hands down the e36 was the best drivers car as an overall package.

[ferrarikangaroo]

Gosh, I'd love a Porsche 911 CS! Thanks for the great video and insightful chat guys. Keep up the great work

[I-gs]

Great video.
E46 vs 997 was no comparison at all - drove them back to back and the M3 couldn’t hide its humble origins, where the 997 felt like a well sorted sports car, through and through.

[jamesgilbert-ef]

Lovely video, really well presented and clear. I have a 944 S2 coupe, so from the same era and I fully appreciate what your saying about the suppleness and the airiness inside them.

[WanderingFriar]

What a video, what an experisnce. Thank you! Of course I adore the M3 but yeah.... it's the CS for me too 😀