The M3 will eat your *** and spit it out in pieces. No comparison, it's totally another class of ride despite what others might say to the contrary.

 

I can`t help you win at autocross, but in your conversations with this guy/kid, remember thata BMW car is a Bimmer and only BMW motorcycles are Beemers. They`re very sensitive about that...

 

you will need to seriouslytear apart your suspension and redo it all. Look in to roush and saleen for handling packs or steeda
get some lower motor mounts, stut tower brace etc
the m3 is just a all around fast car, it will take alot of money for it to win over an m3.
you should prob. look in to forced induction

 

Just my 2 cents worth....I have an '07 GT and a BMW 330Ci and their is no comparison between the two when it comes to Auto-X if they're both stock.
My son takes the 330Ci out to SCCA events and last month he spanked a Mustang by 4 seconds.

They're two different animals. Don't get me wrong, I love the Mustang or I wouldn't have bought it 7 months ago. It's a GREAT car!

If your friend is doing the Auto-X in an '06 M3...no contest...you lose.

A new suspension would certainly help but I agree, it comes down to the driver's skill in getting the car around the course.
One more thing:
Beamer=BMW Motorcycle
Bimmer= BMW car
Not trying to be a jerk, just educating
(By the way, I'm fairly certain that SCCA doesn't even allow M3s to Auto-X against other cars...I know you didn't mention if it was an SCCA event but if the SCCA singles out the M3...you know something's up)
J.

 

What the heck happened to my fonts????

Bimmertang

 

In AutoX there is a little thing called a PAX index (professional autocross index). It is a equalizing factor that you apply to your time so that you can get a apples to apples comparison. This allows say a Mustang to compete against an M3 on equal footing. The lower the number...basically the slower the car. At the national level the PAX for F-Stock Mustang is roughly .821. For an M3 it depends on the model and tires buts lets say its a basic model in B-Stock, the pax is~ .832 (A-stock is .852). So lets say you have a course where the *corrected* time after applying the PAX to each run is 60 seconds. That would mean the Mustang had an actual time of 73.08 seconds while the M3 had an actual timebetween 72.12 (BS) to 70.42 (AS).

So...they are not that far apart, you'd have to be quite a bit better driver to beat him straight up however. Now ifhe has mods, especiallyracing tires...he will be real fast.

 

Aren't M3's like 80k range cars? Or is that 50k range? I dunno but basiclly the more you spend the better options you have. The mustang GT experience is more about earning it then simply buying it (though that plays a part).

 

M3 coupes are more like 50K cars.

M3's a purpose built cars. It will be tough to beat it with a GT if hes a halfway competent driver. But you could beat that M3 with a lighlty modded Evo I'd imagine.

 

The evo will handle much better that is for sure.

However the evo was beat by an STI in a few road race tests in several mags I have read.

 

Ditch the 20s and get some DRs

Take him to the drag strip, see how he reacts when your $21k Ford tears him a new one.

PS: Going AutoX with a stock GT beats the crap out of your pride, crappy 10 year old modded CRXs run circles around the GT