The best late 1980s sports car is...! E30 BMW M3 v Porsche 911 Club Sport

[Mani59]

Dan Prosser drives the two greatest sports cars of the late 1980s, the E30 BMW M3 and Porsche 911 Club Sport, to decide which is the best of that era. The M3 is a true homologation special but it's essentially derived from a conventional saloon car, while the Club Sport has no real racing pedigree of its own but is a sports car through and through.

BMW versus Porsche, M3 versus 911, four cylinders versus six, front-engined versus rear-engined – which will come out on top?

[NickyC]

The late 80s into the mid/late 90s was just special for cars. We’ll never see a time like that again.

[John H.]

No doubt, the M3 was special. It was race ready, and looked it too! I do recall a campaign (recall) on leaky intake manifold gaskets but it was an easy replacment fix. Other than that, super solid car. That being said, at that time, I did fall for the Porsche Speedster. Man, did she have a body built for sin! Great era, great cars!

[Dan B]

I was lucky enough to drive both cars on track and auto-x. Can't go wrong with either.

I have a lot more seat time in the M3. An amazing car. It is like a large go-kart in how well it communicates. The only complaint I come up with is I wish it had more HP. But I have said that about every car I have ever driven. lol

[bmw1racer]

Originally Posted by NickyC

The late 80s into the mid/late 90s was just special for cars. We’ll never see a time like that again.

Agreed. Today's cars are overloaded with pointless tech that dilutes the driving experience, IMO. Manual transmissions and being able to work on your car is going the way of the Dodo.

[ShocknAwe]

Love them both. Great cars. I remember being in the back seat of 3ers and oggling 911s as a kid.

I don't know that never is the right word, but we're definitely in a dark time for cars currently.

I'm hoping 10-20 years from now there will be a new passion for driving with a new generation. My kids are growing up with a love for cars, as I did, collecting scale models etc but our household is certainly in the minority.