Excellent points, comments and info, thx (and the bird is excellent as well).

My point was this: window dressing the statistics with semi-slicks will probably not generate durable gains. The CSL on Michelin Cups has one of the most impressive set of figures and overall score in Sport Auto's super test. Yet, it somehow does not feel that overwhelming on real roads in our laymen's hands compared with a standard M3 and I believe Autocar found out in a comparison that standard M3 on Michelin Cups was nearly as fast on the track as the CSL. So - among real world new car buyers who paid the bill and got the thrill - the standard M3 is an icon by now and the CSL is rather an embarrasment although it was made only in 3500 units or so and it NS times and whatever beats the M3 hands down.