Test Driving the Mercedes C63 and BMW M3

I am a big fan of driving new cars. Especially when the new car is a performance model like the RS4 or in the case of my more recent test drives the Mercedes C63 and the Bmw M3 sedan. Both are great fun. If I had driven the DCT transmission in the M3 they would have been more similar and easier to compare. I will get out sometime and drive the DCT sometime. Until then I only have the sensations of the manual M3 to recall.
My first merge out of the dealership was a little rough since I was a little too delicate with the throttle at first, almost stalling. I could tell the bmw guy was thinking.. 'great' another poser learning to drive stick in a new car. Not to worry. I suggested a slightly longer drive down a narrower and twisty road that would eventually connect back to where he wanted to go and he said sure. We sped up the freeway merging effortlessly. I could see an audi A6 preparing to pass me in the left lane as though I was going to slow him down, but.. bye bye sucka! I got to 100mph pretty fast and leveled for a couple exits. Even up hill at freeway speeds the car just moved with ease. Pressing the 'Power' button made the throttle reaction times lower, making the car feel like you hit a nitrous button or something. It was illusion of course but effective none the less. As we headed toward the twisty circuit I had suggested I noticed just how planted that car feels compared to any other car I have driven. It stops from the bottom up. No dive or pitch feeling at all. Very confidence inspiring. I did not really wring out the car so I was not able to hear any sound track which was disappointing because I really like the sound track from the back of my R32. There is something about a nice day and a great road accompanied by a great exhaust sound bouncing off the surrounding scenery.
On to the Merc C63. That test drive was one of the shortest I have ever been on. The hard part was getting past the 'are you qualified to pay for let alone drive this car' banter I had to get through to even be able to get to the car. They did not have one on the lot so we had to drive an E63 to go get it nearby. Most of our time was spend doing that. Once we got to the C63 in the over-flow lot we went down the freeway 1 exit and had to turn back to the dealership which was 2 exits back the other way.. lame. But, starting that car is like waking up the God of Thunder. the car felt very solid and the auto-box was sooo nice I could see forgetting about a manual. Putting it in sport mode prompts down shift throttle blips which just put a huge smile on my face. It is a little silly to be making THAT much noise in a fairly sedate looking car but its still fun. Its also really fast. Stomp the loud pedal and whoosh you are in the next county. The seat was perfect, the steering was exactly where I would have wanted it to be. Everything felt right at home. I wish I could have taken that car on the same drive as the M3.. who knows maybe I'll go back and convince them to go for another drive.