2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray vs. 2013 BMW M3

The road ahead is mundane, dotted with silver Accords and white Corollas. The speed limit is 35, but you're lucky to break 39. The transmission drops into 6th gear without fanfare and your pulse remains unchanged. Your girlfriend in the passenger seat comments that she'd like to visit her mother this weekend before asking why the car's ride is so rough.

Let's face it. More often than not this is how our lives behind the wheel play out. As much as we may wax poetically about the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray on the Streets of Willow or the 2013 BMW M3 attacking the sinewy pavement of Mulholland Highway, they're rare occurrences at best.

If you want a sporting car to drive every day rather than every third Sunday, performance is obviously vital, but there's far more to consider than just lap times and lateral Gs. Since the Corvette and M3 have a similar price and are both known for being more livable than a typical razor's-edge sports car, it's not unthinkable that a fat-walleted bachelor, DINK or empty nester might think to themselves, "Which one would be better as my everyday car?"

No Surprise at the Track
To be completely honest, such real-world considerations are the only way the 2013 BMW M3 has a fighting chance. If we kept our considerations to the track, we could simply publish a spreadsheet and then kick back, pop open a Bud and catch up on our Netflix queue.

Unlike some of the other cars we've thrown at the C7 the past few weeks, the differences here are stark. The Stingray Z51's best lap of the Streets of Willow was 1:24.55 with a top speed of 112.5 mph. That's faster than a Nissan GT-R and a Porsche 911 Carrera S, let alone the M3 Coupe, which did it in 1:29.02 with a Vmax of 105.26 mph.

"What an instrument," our test-driver Josh Jacquot wrote of the C7 after wrapping up his laps at Willow Springs. "There's no need to qualify the Corvette's performance now. It lacks bad manners. It's fast. It makes the right sounds. It turns, stops and goes like crazy. It's predictable, reliable and world class in virtually every way. Remarkably easy to place. Confident. Communicative."

Astute readers will glean that means he liked it. The M3, on the other hand, elicited appreciation but the perhaps obvious conceit that Munich's representative was out of its league.

"Still rewarding after all these years, but clearly behind the latest hardware when it comes to grip and cornering speed," Jacquot wrote. "It's clearly not as focused of a driver's car relative to the low, light 'Vette."

Against the Clock, One Car Dominates
When you examine our instrumented testing numbers, the difference in lap times becomes completely understandable. The 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and its 6.2-liter 460-horsepower V8 reaches zero to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds (4.1 with 1 foot of rollout as on a drag strip) and clears the quarter-mile in 12.4 seconds at 113.7 mph. The M3 and its 4.0-liter 414-hp V8 could only muster 4.9 seconds (4.6 with rollout) and 13.0 at 109.9 mph.

Regardless, this definitely wasn't just a matter of power. The 'Vette pulled an absolutely stunning 1.05g on our skid pad, making the M3's otherwise commendable 0.93g seem quaint. The C7 also stopped from 60 mph in 99 feet versus 104 and snaked through the slalom at 73.5 mph to the M3's 70.3.

"I especially appreciated the crystal-clear and highly precise steering, the zippy turn-in, the progressive break-away of the tires and sophisticated traction control," wrote test-driver Chris Walton of the Stingray. "Immensely capable and highly accessible performance without the C6's vaguely threatening demeanor."

This Corvette Will Make You a Hero
Indeed, these thoughts were echoed out in the quasi-real world of our favorite mountain road, where the C7 once again proved to be the superior speed machine. There really were only two things keeping the trailing M3 within sight: the traffic cone paint job and Johnny Law.

The new Corvette was just so easy to drive fast thanks to the astounding grip afforded by Performance Traction Management (PTM), the electronic limited-slip and whatever was left of the rear Michelin Pilot Super Sports post-Willow Springs. The low center of gravity and weight certainly didn't hurt, either. Driving with urgency was simply a matter of pointing the exceedingly precise and hugely improved steering where we wanted to go and nailing the gas. And it doesn't really matter how much you nail it, since PTM is on the job making sure the right amount of throttle is always applied to make you look and feel like a stud.

The transmission's got your back, too. Even if you think heel-toeing is a line dancing maneuver at Bob's Country Bunker, the seven-speed manual automatically matches revs when downshifting. Should you prefer to shut off such newfangled trickery, just pull one of the vestigial paddle shifters a bean counter determined would make a pretty swell rev-match button on manual-equipped 'Vettes.

Now, this might sound as if the new 'Vette warrants the video game critiques leveled at the Nissan GT-R, but as you may have read in our Stingray vs. GT-R Comparison Test, Chevrolet's finest is still a hugely visceral and exciting car. It's just that away from the track and its extralegal speeds, the Stingray doesn't really get the opportunity to approach its thrilling full potential. In other words, it's just too easy.

Is There Such a Thing as a Moral Victory?
As a result of the C7's overwhelming competence, the M3 actually proved to be the more memorable drive, leaving us feeling more accomplished and hungry for more. There ultimately was a greater challenge to be had and thus more involvement and enjoyment.

Much of this is simply the enormous difference in capabilities, but it comes down to character as well. Take the power delivery, for instance. The Corvette's abundant grunt meant it could stay in 3rd on our mountain road much of the time, with that rev-matching gearbox dropped into 2nd only for the occasional hairpin. The M3, with its peaky 414 hp and 295 pound-feet of torque, required far more shifting, especially when trying to keep up with Captain America.

Thankfully, BMW's M-DCT is a pleasure to use and mightily effective with right-now shifts and paddles that possess a solid, mechanical feel. The car guy gut reaction is to look down upon the two-pedal M3 as something purchased by poseurs who don't understand and/or can't appreciate the true art of driving. Eyes roll, noses upturned.

Yet, as difficult as it may be to admit, M-DCT is arguably the better tool both for going fast and urban slogs. It also defaults to manual mode at start-up, as if to prove it means business.

There is also something to be said for communication, and words cannot truly express how good the M3's steering is, nor the sadness we'll feel when this hydraulic setup is reportedly replaced by an electric system on the upcoming M4.

Turn-in is so sharp, its effort could be the gold standard upon which all other cars are measured, and you can feel every nuance of what the tires are doing, as if reaching through the bulkhead and physically manipulating each wheel.

The two cars also present completely different takes on V8 theatricality. The 'Vette's V8 is a burly, shock-and-awe celebration that inevitably makes you exclaim some four-letter expletive followed by "YEAH!"

The M3's high-revving 4.0-liter V8, by contrast, pins you into its eight-way buckets to the tune of a precisely engineered, beautifully technical crescendo. You're more likely to mutter "oh my" while your bones melt in appreciation, as if beholding the magnificence of a majestic vista or an especially beautiful woman. Both are phenomenal, and trying to pick a favorite is pointless.

The Corvette Isn't Always Better
So score it as an ass-whipping at the track by the Corvette and a moral victory for the M3 on our favorite mountain road. But, what was that we said about waxing poetically? Onto the mundane.

The two-person Corvette is inherently less practical than the four-spot M3 coupe, but it doesn't get much better than this in the sports car realm. It's not claustrophobic and the visibility is good. Compared to a Viper, it feels like the Popemobile. Leg- and headroom are generous, and the heated and cooled seats have no trouble accommodating those of the taller persuasion.

The seats themselves, thank the good automotive lord, are now serious seats with actual support and actual body-holding capabilities. Then again, the optional Competition Sport seats are even better, as are those in the M3, but improvement is nevertheless improvement.

And if you're going to drive a car every day, it had better have the latest toys and they better be easy to use. The Corvette and its MyLink system do not disappoint. The customizable touchscreen menu icons are reminiscent of a smartphone, and several well-placed physical buttons and knobs are appreciated. Whether you prefer it to BMW's iDrive boils down to preference.

Then there are the Corvette's optional magnetically adjustable dampers, which shame the M3 when it comes to ride quality. No other car can so thoroughly destroy a race circuit before turning around and coddling its fatigued driver on the interstate journey home. All it takes is the turn of a knob.

Mounting a Comeback
In other words, driving a Stingray every day is totally doable. However, we would still rather have an M3 for such duty.

After driving the Corvette, the M3's comparatively expansive visibility and elevated driving position make the world around you seem closer and less daunting. Getting in and out also doesn't require a membership at Master Vikram's House of Yoga, while the existence of a backseat means you aren't limited to just one friend.

The C7's trunk space in theory can carry around some bulky items not possible in the M3, but the only thing preventing an overnight bag from flying into the cabin or frying in the sun is a pair of ineffective mesh cargo covers. The BMW's traditional, reasonably sized 11.1-cubic-foot trunk is ultimately better.

There is reason to praise the Corvette's cabin. The quality of materials and construction is indeed reflective of its price and performance, and with the LT3's extended leather package, it certainly looks more dramatic than the M3. However, the BMW is without question built to a higher standard. The gap between the two has been reduced monumentally, but it remains.

The Final Tally
Of course, there's also the matter of cost. Even if you ignore the one-of-200, already-sold-out Lime Rock Park Edition that adds an obscene $10,000 to the price (for ostensibly different rims, a flat-bottomed wheel and some orange paint), an equally equipped 2013 BMW M3 with M-DCT and the Competition and Premium packages would hit the register at around $73,000.

The 2014 Corvette Stingray 3LT with Z51 package costs $69,375 and includes equipment the M3 doesn't offer like cooled seats, Pandora radio and a head-up display, not to mention its dual-mode performance exhaust and the magnetic suspension. If we're talking value alone, it's no contest.

Now, perhaps one could argue the M3's greater everyday usability justifies some of that price, or perhaps that the Corvette is just a ridiculous, unparalleled bargain. Perhaps one could also argue that the M3 will be out of production in about 15 minutes, effectively reducing this contest to one between a new Corvette and a used, perfectly reasonably priced BMW M3.

One could argue anything they'd like, but there's absolutely no denying that the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is the performance champion here and ultimately the better weekend plaything or extra car in the garage. That's what most people in this segment want, and the Corvette delivers in ways the M3 can't match.

But, in the event you only have room for one car, the 2013 (or any other model year E92) BMW M3 is an impeccably crafted, reasonably practical, sufficiently comfortable daily plaything with the ceaseless ability to thrill on roads both twisting and mundane. Farewell, friend. We'll miss you.

The manufacturers provided Edmunds with these vehicles for the purposes of evaluation.