Yeah, two seconds is a LOT on a track like Laguna Seca, especially for cars that are this similar. Especially since the Viper's supposed to be more track-oriented than the ZR1; even the Z06 is.

McLaren F1.... "There's even room to take the whole family shopping!" -Tiff

"Viscous strike" as in the viscous coupling?

I still can't believe they didn't put that into production... Love all those carbon fiber pipes

The M3 and M5 vents do nothing functional. I'm not so sure this one will either.

Yeah, I'd easily go with the Viper now. But... it's BRAND new, compared to the about-to-be-replaced Corvette.

Yeah, it depends on which 911. Either the GT3, GT3 RS, or GT3 RS 4.0 I'd definitely have over either R8.

Yeah, that's true. They're fanatical about lining stuff up to be as perfect as possible and get the lines are agreeable angles from panel to panel. It looks beautiful on the Zonda pics I've seen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Series_70#1957.E2.80.931958

Yeah, A5s look amazing, better than any BMW, IMO. And mileage is horrendous with the M3. I can get something like 24 mpg or so on the highway around 65-70mph or so, but that's about the best it'll do. Around town it's much lower, especially if you rev it a lot which is definitely addictive.

Haha, I knew that finishing the bare carbon to look nice would be expensive, but $100k?! Jesus!

It doesn't just have one purpose. From what I've gathered from reading M3 forums it does indeed suck air in when needed, e.g. at full throttle. However, in certain situations air is pushed out of there (and water :) ), some kind of excess pressure relief. I've seen some suggestions that it allows for fresh, cool…

Sadly, they're not. If you look closely at them, the "vents" are just filled-in on both the sedan and the coupe, no holes.

As far as I can tell from e46 fanatics and bimmerpost board searches, yeah the E46's were just cosmetic. Some people spout that "oh they certainly vent hot air out, BMW M wouldn't frivolously add those," without any evidence. But then I come across posters who say "ever open up your fender vents? It's just black…

Yeah, that hood vent is very functional; at times it's an intake and others it lets air out. The other hood vent is mostly cosmetic, although it is still a hole and not filled in so there is airflow. The front bumper's holes are all functional: one leads to the air intake; the one on the other side and the one in the…

We are discussing fender vents, not hood or bumper vents/holes.

Yeah, a part of my car-spirit died when I found out that the wonderful fender "vents" I used to praise BMW for on the E46 M3 were just as fake as crap like Pontiac put on the Grand Am's hood. At least BMW's look relatively tasteful. Though I can't say from these pics that 4 series' faux-vents look good.

The current M3 coupe and other M models have what look like "holes/slits" as well, but they aren't truly holes.

Considering that the E46, E9x, and new M5's fender "vents" aren't functional, I'm guessing no, it's purely for looks. I'm pretty sure even the 1 M Coupe's "vents" ahead of the front wheels and behind the rear wheels are just filled-in black plastic.

Yeahhh i can't believe they sold them in America only with the regular, huge taillights. Those thin ones look so awesome