Caporegime
Looks like an ok day out if you've got nothing else on I guess.
M3 test drive
- Thread starter Simon
- Start date
So the main part of the event was the two days, Monday on the GP circuit and Tuesday morning around the Nordschleife. The competition winners and media had also been to BMW Munich over the weekend to see the exhibitions they have there.
The Competition winners were from countries all over Asia, so middle east, China, India, Singpore, Australia, NZ etc. About 15-20 media attended from Europe and Asia. It was a Castrol ran competition which the main prize was this experience, with all flights etc included. For many it was a dream come true, a petrolhead getting to drive an M3 (and many other BMW models) around the iconic Nurburgring, not only drive but also sit next to a WTCC driver on a hot lap.
I attended to do the technical presentation (and demo of Edge going into the race car) and also the media interviews. However I also was allowed to take part in the all of the driving with colleagues from Marketing
The malaysian country ran the competition with a 16 finalist heat at Sepang for example.
Monday:
Several events from Pace car laps to emergency braking, M3 GT4 passenger rides to slalom, giving you the chance to drive several cars.
BMW M3:
There were over 30 M3s there all were about 2-3months old and had brand new tyres on, by the end of the day all the rears on the cars doing pace laps were close to needing replacement. Not bad considering they probably did 5-6hours of driving each
We drove this for the GP circuit pace car laps, and also used ones on the darker 18inch wheels for the drifting/skid-pan event.
Pace Car laps, the groups were split via nationality due to both language and driving experience, the translators would sit in the lead instructor car and translate over the radios that allowed all the cars in the group to hear the instructor (many asian drivers aren't used to driving fast). The group went as fast as the slowest driver
Our group was the UK and Australian group, and fortunately everyone was pretty quick, so it felt like a trackday in the sense that it was pretty much flat out for most of it with the occasional pause to let the group close up
The Car:
So after getting out of the 535i it felt a little more basic but still felt the typical BMW quality. Was happy to see it was a DCT though - especially being LHD. Using the DCT was pretty straight forward and pulling off and driving around at low speed in the auto mode, I didn't notice any jerkyness or anything, felt really smooth. Noise of the engine was awesome, felt civilised and the noise it made when you stabbed the throttle was very nice, great response too.
Out on the track it certainly went well and with great brakes and grip - helped by the fact the ambients were near 20C. The DCT box was just perfect, I had it on full shift speed and both the speed of the upshift and the blipped throttle on downshifts becomes very addictive.
You do notice the weight of the car on turn in and after a few laps I started to find the Traction control very instustive, my passenger then drover and despite going into corners too fast, the traction would let the speed scrub off and bring the car back with no problem, on exits it would bog right down as it waited for the wheels to be straight - it was almost as if it was too easy to drive fast, anyone could drive it fairly quickly especially combined with DCT. I was a little underwhelmed by the involvement and feedback I was getting from the car.
Next session we had the M sport mode activated. This completely changed the car, Im not sure on the exact setting but the EDC went to medium and the throttle became sharper (no doubt its just a more throttle for same pedal effect though). Out on the track
It's difficult to get an idea of what it's really like as a car to live with when you only experience is ragging the crap out of one around the GP circuit or drifting one around cones in the wet, but certainly it is brutally quick, easy to drive. A bit of a jeykl and hyde car.
I read Gibbo's post on it after dirving it and agreed with most of what he said. On the road it would be an awesome car but not sure how much you enjoy the full potential.
I got in my car after getting home expecting it to feel crap, sure it felt slow but it didnt half feel light. Still though: M3 - do want!
Noise and engine - Awesome, the noise it made ...
Other cars:
Z4 S35is - This had the 340hp N55 engine with the single turbo.
Loved this car, this noise it made was like a plane or something, especially when changing at about 4k rpm with the DCT box. It sounded much better than the S35i model. 0-60 is 4.5 seconds, certainly felt believable. A lot of people drove this car and everyone was suprised that the hairdressers banana went so well.
Think these are about £50k though which is hard to justify when the M3 isn't much more.
I don't think the Z4 would be much behind an M3 in a straight line and the low down grunt is better than the M3. One thing that did let it down - the paddles, theyshould be like the M3 though, right paddle up a gear and left down. The Z4 box would go up a gear with either paddle pulled back and down a gear when either was pushed forwad, a bit tricky to get used to.
I also used this car for the evasive manouvres to simulate a high speed lane change and display ESP or whatever BMW call it (Anti spin by braking individual rear wheels). Impressive how the car sorts itself out.
535i (F10) - Smooth, quiet refined and all the toys, but when you gave it some the auto box reacted immediately, effortless acceleration and a out of character engine size. Before driving one I wouldn't have been interested in the car, but now I can really see the attraction in a car like it.
Tuesday was in the X6M
X6M - Don't really know what to make of this car, ridiculous is probably the best word. The X6M has a twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 with 547bhp and 502lb ft of torque and which accelerates to 62mph in 4.7sec and has a top speed of 171mphengine, again with DCT in a car weighing nearly 2.4 tons
Probably not the best environment to test on the 'North loop' as the downhills really did affect weight transfer with the CoG being so high. Engine was powerful but sounded dull and felt quite laggy and often it would come on boost hard before needing a change from the box which was pretty fierce meaning it was quite an uncomfortable experience. Also suffered from understeer except on the downhills where the backend became very light.
The Competition winners were from countries all over Asia, so middle east, China, India, Singpore, Australia, NZ etc. About 15-20 media attended from Europe and Asia. It was a Castrol ran competition which the main prize was this experience, with all flights etc included. For many it was a dream come true, a petrolhead getting to drive an M3 (and many other BMW models) around the iconic Nurburgring, not only drive but also sit next to a WTCC driver on a hot lap.
I attended to do the technical presentation (and demo of Edge going into the race car) and also the media interviews. However I also was allowed to take part in the all of the driving with colleagues from Marketing
The malaysian country ran the competition with a 16 finalist heat at Sepang for example.
Monday:
Several events from Pace car laps to emergency braking, M3 GT4 passenger rides to slalom, giving you the chance to drive several cars.
BMW M3:
There were over 30 M3s there all were about 2-3months old and had brand new tyres on, by the end of the day all the rears on the cars doing pace laps were close to needing replacement. Not bad considering they probably did 5-6hours of driving each
We drove this for the GP circuit pace car laps, and also used ones on the darker 18inch wheels for the drifting/skid-pan event.
Pace Car laps, the groups were split via nationality due to both language and driving experience, the translators would sit in the lead instructor car and translate over the radios that allowed all the cars in the group to hear the instructor (many asian drivers aren't used to driving fast). The group went as fast as the slowest driver
Our group was the UK and Australian group, and fortunately everyone was pretty quick, so it felt like a trackday in the sense that it was pretty much flat out for most of it with the occasional pause to let the group close up
The Car:
So after getting out of the 535i it felt a little more basic but still felt the typical BMW quality. Was happy to see it was a DCT though - especially being LHD. Using the DCT was pretty straight forward and pulling off and driving around at low speed in the auto mode, I didn't notice any jerkyness or anything, felt really smooth. Noise of the engine was awesome, felt civilised and the noise it made when you stabbed the throttle was very nice, great response too.
Out on the track it certainly went well and with great brakes and grip - helped by the fact the ambients were near 20C. The DCT box was just perfect, I had it on full shift speed and both the speed of the upshift and the blipped throttle on downshifts becomes very addictive.
You do notice the weight of the car on turn in and after a few laps I started to find the Traction control very instustive, my passenger then drover and despite going into corners too fast, the traction would let the speed scrub off and bring the car back with no problem, on exits it would bog right down as it waited for the wheels to be straight - it was almost as if it was too easy to drive fast, anyone could drive it fairly quickly especially combined with DCT. I was a little underwhelmed by the involvement and feedback I was getting from the car.
Next session we had the M sport mode activated. This completely changed the car, Im not sure on the exact setting but the EDC went to medium and the throttle became sharper (no doubt its just a more throttle for same pedal effect though). Out on the track
It's difficult to get an idea of what it's really like as a car to live with when you only experience is ragging the crap out of one around the GP circuit or drifting one around cones in the wet, but certainly it is brutally quick, easy to drive. A bit of a jeykl and hyde car.
I read Gibbo's post on it after dirving it and agreed with most of what he said. On the road it would be an awesome car but not sure how much you enjoy the full potential.
I got in my car after getting home expecting it to feel crap, sure it felt slow but it didnt half feel light. Still though: M3 - do want!
Noise and engine - Awesome, the noise it made ...
Other cars:
Z4 S35is - This had the 340hp N55 engine with the single turbo.
Loved this car, this noise it made was like a plane or something, especially when changing at about 4k rpm with the DCT box. It sounded much better than the S35i model. 0-60 is 4.5 seconds, certainly felt believable. A lot of people drove this car and everyone was suprised that the hairdressers banana went so well.
Think these are about £50k though which is hard to justify when the M3 isn't much more.
I don't think the Z4 would be much behind an M3 in a straight line and the low down grunt is better than the M3. One thing that did let it down - the paddles, theyshould be like the M3 though, right paddle up a gear and left down. The Z4 box would go up a gear with either paddle pulled back and down a gear when either was pushed forwad, a bit tricky to get used to.
I also used this car for the evasive manouvres to simulate a high speed lane change and display ESP or whatever BMW call it (Anti spin by braking individual rear wheels). Impressive how the car sorts itself out.
535i (F10) - Smooth, quiet refined and all the toys, but when you gave it some the auto box reacted immediately, effortless acceleration and a out of character engine size. Before driving one I wouldn't have been interested in the car, but now I can really see the attraction in a car like it.
Tuesday was in the X6M
X6M - Don't really know what to make of this car, ridiculous is probably the best word. The X6M has a twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 with 547bhp and 502lb ft of torque and which accelerates to 62mph in 4.7sec and has a top speed of 171mphengine, again with DCT in a car weighing nearly 2.4 tons
Probably not the best environment to test on the 'North loop' as the downhills really did affect weight transfer with the CoG being so high. Engine was powerful but sounded dull and felt quite laggy and often it would come on boost hard before needing a change from the box which was pretty fierce meaning it was quite an uncomfortable experience. Also suffered from understeer except on the downhills where the backend became very light.
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Incar videos:
M3 GT4 with Andy Priaulx
BMW Motorsport announced on July 7, 2009 the launch of a line of BMW M3 race cars which meet the SRO/FIA's GT4 spec and are oriented for sale to private teams and drivers. The BMW M3 GT4 price is 121,500 EUR without VAT.[36] While BMW states [37] that ‘the BMW M3 GT4 weighs just 1,430 kilograms’ and has 420 bhp.
Andy Priaulx, was born and lives in Guernsey. He is a triple FIA World Touring Car Champion, having won three consecutive titles from 2005 to 2007. He has previously been a multiple race and championship winner in diverse branches of motorsport
Standard M3 with Dirk
The 2004 24 Hours Nürburgring was won by both Müllers (and Hans-Joachim Stuck) with the BMW M3 GTR V8 that had been raced successfully in the 2001 ALMS. In 2005, the Müllers finished 2nd behind their sister car.
M3 GT4 with Andy Priaulx
BMW Motorsport announced on July 7, 2009 the launch of a line of BMW M3 race cars which meet the SRO/FIA's GT4 spec and are oriented for sale to private teams and drivers. The BMW M3 GT4 price is 121,500 EUR without VAT.[36] While BMW states [37] that ‘the BMW M3 GT4 weighs just 1,430 kilograms’ and has 420 bhp.
Andy Priaulx, was born and lives in Guernsey. He is a triple FIA World Touring Car Champion, having won three consecutive titles from 2005 to 2007. He has previously been a multiple race and championship winner in diverse branches of motorsport
Standard M3 with Dirk
Soldato
I think it would be a nice road car as it sounds like the effect the XFR had on me. Obviously the XFR is much faster as I found it a little overwhelming really as the first few times i booted it I couldn't stop giggling like a girl and then it became addictive such that I averaged 10mpg for the hour I drove it and could have lost my licence a few times over
When I drove the M3 I only ever tried it in full M Sport mode with maximum shift speed, though traction control was left on it was just set to the sport+ option or something along that lines.
From reading your thoughts it looks like you were too blown away by how good the DCT really is, a transmission that can work just as well as an AUTO in town that really comes to life on a spiritied drive and it just feels a lot better to use and more fun than the equivalent transmissions say on the GTR and DSG.
Like you say a truly fantastic car but one that makes going quick too easy and for the type of car I'd say maybe its too refined as this car doing 120 leptons feels like your only doing 60mph or so.....
Great car, was just not for me.
Seems the one I drove was the M3 with the Competition package, hence the CSL type wheels.
"The Competition Package itself is a £3315 option, and because it includes a set of 19-inch wheels and the adjustable dampers (ordinarily £1265 and £1295, and a must-have for most M3 drivers) BMW reckons it’s not only good value but will be taken up by 60% of customers. The bonus is that the bigger wheels are clearly inspired by the E46 CSL – they’re very tasty. A 10mm suspension drop, lifted from last year’s M3 Edition, and a special M mode for the DSC system complete the package. And does it make a difference? Unfortunately we didn’t have a track to play on, but the reality is this latest M3 feels better than ever, with a sharp turn-in, strong resistance to understeer, and the ability to let you schlep along with the hoi polloi one moment, and act like a complete hooligan the next. Just make sure you leave the dampers in their regular setting – anything overtly sporting is just too stiff for the UK."
"The Competition Package itself is a £3315 option, and because it includes a set of 19-inch wheels and the adjustable dampers (ordinarily £1265 and £1295, and a must-have for most M3 drivers) BMW reckons it’s not only good value but will be taken up by 60% of customers. The bonus is that the bigger wheels are clearly inspired by the E46 CSL – they’re very tasty. A 10mm suspension drop, lifted from last year’s M3 Edition, and a special M mode for the DSC system complete the package. And does it make a difference? Unfortunately we didn’t have a track to play on, but the reality is this latest M3 feels better than ever, with a sharp turn-in, strong resistance to understeer, and the ability to let you schlep along with the hoi polloi one moment, and act like a complete hooligan the next. Just make sure you leave the dampers in their regular setting – anything overtly sporting is just too stiff for the UK."
Soldato
Coincidentally enough I'll be driving one of these later. My brother picked his up last night and gave me a lift back from the airport in it. Gonna take it for a proper spin later.
From the passenger seat it felt pretty good, I'll see how it feels from the drivers seat later.
From the passenger seat it felt pretty good, I'll see how it feels from the drivers seat later.
Si, how did you find the gearing of the s35is? It might well be better suited to the track but when I took one out, it was a mare to know what gear to be in to suit the car the most. 3rd round town didnt allow for a quick pickup and 2nd was to annoying
Soldato
Very impressed with the split personality of the car in particular. You can literally potter around in it and it's a lovely comfortable car, or you can floor it and it goes flippin' mental. Even when flooring it 99% of the time it returned good MPG (relatively speaking of course). Compared to his RR sport it's positively frugal.
Ultimately wasted on UK roads though, far too tempting to do serious speeds all the time. I'd either kill myself or lose my license in no time at all.
My thoughts too, too quick for the road ! DCT makes it too easy to drive quick.
Im used to an S2000 so high revs and always being in a gear ready to go is pretty normal.
I found the DCT to perfect the car, the manual box was slow and notchy on the S35i that I had for 4 days. The gearbox and extra power made the car even better, I found it would pull from any gear. Im surprised to read that you struggled with pickup.
Thoughts on the Z4 S35i
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18154115&highlight=BMW+username_simon
I guess the S35i with the N54 twin turbo probably has better pickup than the N55 single turbo. Never really seen a comparison though?
Im used to an S2000 so high revs and always being in a gear ready to go is pretty normal.
I found the DCT to perfect the car, the manual box was slow and notchy on the S35i that I had for 4 days. The gearbox and extra power made the car even better, I found it would pull from any gear. Im surprised to read that you struggled with pickup.
Thoughts on the Z4 S35i
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18154115&highlight=BMW+username_simon
I guess the S35i with the N54 twin turbo probably has better pickup than the N55 single turbo. Never really seen a comparison though?
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Soldato
Totally agree. It's far too easy to watch the flashy lights tell you that it's time to change gear only to find that your speedo says you're already going way too fast!
I'm amazed by how high it revs though and how smooth and unstressed it feels when you do it. Very dangerous combination.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
I found exactly this with the slower 335i Auto - I found the autobox just made it even worse as there was no natural pause in the power, just a relentless surge of performance meaning that anything more than a fleeting application of full power meant license busting land.
