My recent experience with the 2016 BMW X3 has piqued my interest in vehicle cargo capacity. The X3 had a spacious and easy to load truck which easily swallowed my family’s weekend luggage. Just how much of that gear would have fit into my M3 or Focus RS’s hold? Determined to find out, I filled… Continue reading Long Term Update: 2011 BMW M3 and 2016 Ford Focus RS
This weekend I'm making good on my promise to take the Focus RS to the racetrack. I already have an intimate sense of how the RS drives on the street, yet the car's limits continue to elude me. The circuit is the best place to approach those limits. Thus, early on a cool and cloudy… Continue reading Long Term: 2016 Focus RS on Track
It's no secret that the Focus RS ships with a slew of drive modes that promise to transform the car from a lightly-sporty family hauler to a hair-on-fire drift mobile (and everything in between). Does the Focus make good on its promise? After logging more than 2,000 miles on California's excellent back roads, I've come… Continue reading Long Term: 2016 Ford Focus RS
Today and tomorrow, I am a fly-on-the-wall at an Everyday Driver video shoot. It's a comparison test the co-hosts Todd and Paul have been excitedly planning for months: the new Focus RS versus its USDM rivals, the Mitsubishi Evo X, Subaru STI, VW Golf R. Luckily for me, the "wall" from which I'll be observing… Continue reading Comparison: 2016 Ford Focus RS, 2016 VW Golf R, 2016 Subaru WRX STI and 2016 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X
I now have two German cars in my garage. My sleek gray 2011 BMW M3 sedan has been joined by a raucously blue 2016 Ford Focus RS hatchback. If you are scratching your head and thinking that Ford is an American nameplate, you are, of course, right. But the Focus RS is manufactured in Germany… Continue reading Long Term: 2016 Ford Focus RS
Not so long ago, I was sitting by the pool on vacation when BMW's media embargo on the F80 M3 and F82 M4 expired and the internet was flooded with reviews of the new BMWs. With great excitement, I consumed every quality review I could find, trying to determine if the heir to the sports… Continue reading Comparison: 2015 BMW M4 vs. 2011 BMW M3
My friend Sage has been researching his next car. A few months ago, Sage and I had rented an E46 M3 from RelayRides, and we were completely taken by the E46's performance, balance and poise. After the rental, we both dived into Craigslist searches to find that perfect example of the model, but we've both… Continue reading Comparison: 2013 Ford Mustang GT vs 2011 BMW M3
This Sunday I had my first chance to autocross my 2011 BMW M3 at El Toro airfield. While I had done an autocross in Oakland many months ago, it was a poor chance to feel out the car as the course was very short (maybe 40 seconds long) and pretty slow. Today’s El Toro event… Continue reading Long Term: 2011 BMW M3 at Autocross
I just took my 2011 E90 M3 to the track for the first time. The tarmac I chose was Laguna Seca, one of America’s most revered race tracks and also a circuit I know well from many prior visits in my old Mitsubishi Evo IX MR. I had a grand time in the M3, but… Continue reading Long Term: 2011 BMW M3 at Laguna Seca
My car-buddy Sage has rented a 2004 BMW M3—known to the BMW community as the E46 M3—for the day. It’s a coupe with gray paint and the dreaded SMG transmission. For a 150k mile vehicle, the body and interior—especially the black interior leather!—are in great shape. Although it lacks the navigation screen which is found… Continue reading Comparison: 2004 BMW M3 vs 2011 BMW M3
Mike's Steering Column 