The term q-car or q-ship might not be familiar to many. But for those growing up in the 80’s or 90’s, a q-car is a sleeper, a stealth-mobile. A car that appears very ordinary, but in fact hides its huge performance prowess underneath its rather mundane skin.

The 80’s and 90’s offered a plethora of q-cars: the original Porsche-built Audi RS2, the Mercedes-Benz E500 (or 500 E, also built by Porsche for their neighbors) the Lotus Carlton (or Opel Lotus Omega outside of the UK) and of course, BMW’s excellent line-up of M-cars: the M3 (available in coupe & sedan) and the larger M5.

Though today, q-ships are slightly less popular (everybody wants to stand out), the tradition lives on, serving up supercar speed and performance coupled with everyday ease of use. None live up better to this tradition than BMW’s latest G81 generation M3 Touring in Competition-spec.

Today’s latest M3 is, as they say in parts of Asia, same-same, but different.

The transmission of choice seems to be the excellent 8-speed ZF8HP. A manual is available, but in traffic, you want the convenience of an automatic especially if a million things are running through your head.  BMW’s straight six finds its way again into the engine bay, but now reinforced with direct injection and turbocharging, bringing output to 530 horsepower and 650 Newton-Meters of torque available from 2,750 to 5,950RPM. M XDrive All-wheel drive is standard, but pretty much behaves like a proper rear-drive machine from Bavaria that can dynamically send torque to the front wheels as needed.

There is the matter of the Touring variant’s cargo space: the sedan gets 480 liters of cargo space, while the Touring gets 500 liters. Doesn’t seem much until you drop the rear seats and the Touring expands to a cavernous 1510 liters of cargo space. For this added space, the weight penalty is a paltry 85kg.  

And of course, the M3, sedan or Touring, comfortably fits five normal sized adults, or four if you’re like me. Perfect indeed for everyday. Fuel economy turned up to a decent 6km / liter in the city, thanks to efficient gearing and the S58 inline six’s torque low-down. On the highway, the ZF8 gives the M3 incredible cruising legs, with ~14km/liter. Need I say more?

But, if the mood hits, the road is empty, and you have time to take the long way home, few cars can match the M3’s exhilarating drive. The steering is light, but feelsome, quick and direct. And also very very talkative: you know what’s going on up front, but it doesn’t burden you with torque-steer or the added unnatural steering effort of typical all-wheel drive cars. The rear is easily rotated with more throttle and the brakes are phenomenal, easily matching the grunt from the engine. It goes without saying that the M3’s explosive power is easily exploited and you find yourself speeding well-above the limit in no time. On a scale of 1-10 for sheer driving pleasure, with 10 being the highest, the M3 Touring is at 9.75.

There are three drive modes available (Road, Sport and Track) but I preferred keeping it in Road: Sport and Track just increased harshness but did not really deliver any more enjoyment even if performance did improve, albeit incrementally.

There are other aspects of the car worth mentioning, like the 3-spoke M-Steering wheel with paddle shifters, auxiliary controls for the multimedia system, and the M-buttons, the BMW Live Cockpit Professional with iDrive OS 8.0. The very comfortable yet supportive sport seats covered in orange / cinnamon leather, plus other M specific equipment: M Traction Control, M Drift Analyzer, and M Laptimer. And of course many scream that the huge kidney grill is ugly. Truthfully? It won’t matter because you’ll be having so much fun, as evidenced by that huge smile each time you drive, the roar of that straight-sox coupled with your manic laughter will drown out the critics. And yes, the grill actually does look better in the metal than in pictures.

On the highway, the M3 is stable and composed at all times. On tight winding roads, you feel the weight of the rear pulling and pushing the car a bit, like a pendulum influencing minute steering movements. But it’s a slow predictable sensation easily reigned in with more steering or throttle, or simply allowing for a slightly longer rein. Lift-off oversteer on-track is easily accessed even for intermediate drivers. Performance is easier to unlock in the M3 Touring than typical sports cars, and it has far more practicality and versatility. This truly is the joy of driving, distilled & purified into a very practical and versatile package which is *gasp* i daresay, almost realistically affordable.

But ultimately, to the untrained eye, the M3 Touring exemplifies speak softly, but those who know understand that it carries a (very) big stick. The Touring silhouette doesn’t shout its presence nor hype its performance credentials up. It’s a car that appeals to the true enthusiast, someone who appreciates tradition, real-world exploitable performance. Driving and owning a M3 Touring is a truly life-enhancing experience.