Being "The Stig" on BBC's Top Gear is probably one of the coolest and important roles you get to play, and Ben Collins had the distinction for seven years. The role appeared in 2002 with "The Black Stig" - played by ex-Formula 1 driver Perry McCarthy for just one year – and continued with "The White Stig," portrayed Collins, a racing driver, from 2003 until 2010. His impressive racing career helped him not only be the best Stig out there, but also give some of the best driven reviews on any car you can imagine. Recently, the guys over Drivetribe were invited to test the new BMW M3 Touring around the Nurburgring, and as no surprise, they decided to send The Stig, er, Ben Collins, himself.
The M3 Touring Delivers Supercar Performance Figures
Just like the M3 sedan, the Touring is powered by a 3.0-liter, twin-turbo, six-cylinder engine. Unlike the sedan, however, it is only offered in Competition spec with a total output of 503 horsepower at 6,250 rpm and 479 pound-feet of torque between 2,750 and 5,500 rpm. The M3 Touring goes from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.6 seconds and up to a top speed of 174 mph. The 3.6-second sprint time makes the M3 Touring faster than the Jaguar F-Type SVR (3.9 seconds) and almost on par with the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera (3.4 seconds) and the Mercedes-Benz GT R (3.5 Seconds).
Is The M3 Touring Better Than The RS4 Avant And The C63 AMG Estate?
When it comes to the compact sport wagons, there aren’t many options out there. You can only choose between the Audi RS4 Avant, the Mercedes-AMG C63 Estate, or the new BMW M3 Touring. On paper, the new M3 Touring is just as powerful as the C63 Estate (503 horsepower), but offers a lot more than the RS4 Avant (444 horsepower). But is the new M3 Touring better than its other two German competitors? Ben Collins tries to give us an idea on how good the new M3 Touring is, and if it is worth buying. We won’t disclose what he thinks about the car as you should watch the 12-minute video yourself. However, according to Collins, the new M3 Touring is “pretty damn crisp,” “very balanced,” and intuitive, not to mention easy to drive and offering beautiful handling and phenomenal braking. To find out what else he thinks about the car, you will have to watch the video below. We can promise you it is worth watching!