Mercurialbliss, dong20 and 350Z, I'll address your posts with the following:
No, haven't driven either, but your Mazda, is it the Mazdaspeed3 or is it the regular Mazda3 ? The original post was for the Mazdaspeed3. Those would be two different cars just the same to compare.
As for confidence, don't go by marketing hype. The numbers are gathered on the same test track under the same weather conditions by driver's who do that for a living when the comparison is made. I tend to think I am a pretty good driver and can put any vehicle thru it's paces. Then again, nobody hands me the keys to every new model to test drive on a road course specifically designed to take a vehicle to it's limits while challenging the driving skills of the best drivers in the world. That said, when one car goes thru a slalom, I doubt that a winding mountain road is anywhere nearly as challenging, especially when that same road was paved so an 18 wheeler could haul a full load of cargo on that very same road.
As for lap times, again, a road course, a slower time means that one vehicle & it's driver performed poorer in any of a series of events negotiating that road course that involved cornering, braking, and accelerating at any given point in that road course. When the BMW goes thru slower, it's not the winner and can't be considered superior, regardless of how much more it costs. So we have to ask, was it braking, cornering or accelerating, even a combination, where the BMW fell short ? This to me is handling across the board.
G's, that's a skidpad where the car is circled and taken to a point where it goes out of control, for example, the top of the line 2007 BMW 335i, pulls .87 g's, simply unimpressive in that there are a lot of cars on the market that can do that. And you're worried you'll find a way to go off the side of the mountain in a Mazdaspeed3 ?
"http://www.caranddriver.com/roadtests/11733/2007-bmw-335i-coupe-specs-page4.html"
"HANDLING
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.87 g"
"http://www.caranddriver.com/roadtests/11724/2007-mazdaspeed-3.html"
"and circled a dusty, less-than-perfect skidpad to produce a brag-worthy 0.87 g."
I can't imagine that .87g's in a BMW is any different than .87g's in a Mazdaspeed3. A g-force doesn't know who made the car or even how much you paid for it.
Curb weight, another aspect, the Mazdaspeed is 3180 lbs, the BMW 3558, that's 378 lbs. Even the 328i comes in @ 3420 lbs. The Mazda isn't the lightest car ever made, but the BMW has to feel like a bloated pig in comparison. All things equal, a smaller and lighter car is always going to be more nimble and maneuverable. That's simply a fact, it's not subjective.
2007 BMW 328i - Comparison Tests - Car and Driver April 2007
Make sure you download the test sheet on the last page of the review, the numbers for a 40K BMW are simply unimpressive compared to the less expensive Mazda when the cost of these two are factored in. The BMW is 15K more. Look at acceleration the Mazda is the winner pure and simple beyond 40 mph, by tenths of a second. At 40-50 mph, it's closer, but at the end of 1/4 mile, the Mazda is nearly a 1/2 second quicker @ 99 mph, that's 73 feet ahead of the BMW (nearly 5 car lengths of the Mazda) when the BMW reaches the 1/4 mile mark @ 14.8 seconds (assuming the Mazda stabilizes and lets off the gas after embarassing the nazi-shitbox, if he continues the humiliation the Mazda is now doing 100 mph in the same 14.8 seconds and that distance is even greater.). Top speed, the Mazda does 155 and the BMW 148 mph. Considering 5 car lengths in the 1/4 mile, after 20 minutes @ top speed, the Mazda would now be 2.333 miles ahead of the BMW. Would the Mazda driver even know a BMW was on the same road behind him, if 20 minutes into this trip, if he forgot he ever saw a BMW, when he passed it somewhere around accelerating to 40 mph from a dead stop ? Yes the 2 cars are in different classes, the BMW is a long forgotten, overpriced, slow POS out on I-10 in the middle of Texas.
I don't have to drive either vehicle to know which car is really superior. Sure you can find a BMW 3 (335i specifically, but even that is still slower regarding top end speed, eventually the Mazda catches it's prey and leaves it behind with enough open straight away) or any other series that eventually bests the Mazdaspeed3. But these road tests simply are mythbusters, the BMW is no better than many other vehicles. I'd rather have a Porsche anyway for speed and Mercedes is a far finer vehicle for luxury. That is, if German cars are what you have to have ?