as it was said earlier in this thread, a lot of it comes down to the handling limits of these cars. Newer cars, be it M cars or otherwise, have much, much, much higher handling limits stock for stock than the old stuff. Consequently, an e30, along with many other old, 'slow' cars, will be much more fun to drive at a reasonable speed. You can feel exactly what the car is doing, and there is very little isolation and basically no driver aids to interfere with that. They also feel quick when you aren't really going that fast. Just don't look out the window at the Toyota Sienna that just out-accelerated you.
And yeah, of course there are ways around all of this. Turbos, engine swaps, aftermarket suspensions, etc. Newer cars typically start out with a better suspension, though, and often far more tractable motors. I don't know how many of you have had a chance to drive the E9X M3, but it is an incredible car. The engine is absolute insanity, the suspension does its job extremely well until you get close to the limit, and then you hit understeer. But that issue realistically plagues just about every factory street car out there, with a few exceptions. It does have soul. I would never argue against that. the character is just a lot different than that of the e30. It's less playful, slower to respond, and high-tech, where the e30 is agile, eager to be driven, and extremely simple. Even driving the E9X, I never really got this impression that it wanted to be driven hard, like I do in my 318is, or my dad's E34 M5. That's what I find is missing. Not to mention that you have to be driving extremely fast to even feel like you are stressing the car. Some find that fun; I find it a little boring. I like feeling the tires squirm, a little body roll, and the steering weight up in a corner...
And yeah, of course there are ways around all of this. Turbos, engine swaps, aftermarket suspensions, etc. Newer cars typically start out with a better suspension, though, and often far more tractable motors. I don't know how many of you have had a chance to drive the E9X M3, but it is an incredible car. The engine is absolute insanity, the suspension does its job extremely well until you get close to the limit, and then you hit understeer. But that issue realistically plagues just about every factory street car out there, with a few exceptions. It does have soul. I would never argue against that. the character is just a lot different than that of the e30. It's less playful, slower to respond, and high-tech, where the e30 is agile, eager to be driven, and extremely simple. Even driving the E9X, I never really got this impression that it wanted to be driven hard, like I do in my 318is, or my dad's E34 M5. That's what I find is missing. Not to mention that you have to be driving extremely fast to even feel like you are stressing the car. Some find that fun; I find it a little boring. I like feeling the tires squirm, a little body roll, and the steering weight up in a corner...
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