Fifth Gear 135i vs. Cayman

[0002s]

Originally Posted by mbell75

haha true :biggrin:

Sure, it exists for the "bang for the buck" factor as do the Evo and STi. So why not compare it against them? Maybe BMW is a bit afraid to? :iono: That seems the most logical comparo to me, not against a car with 60 less hp that costs way more. The 135 has great straight line speed and seems to handle well around a road course, would love to see the 3 of them against each other!

Coupe vs. Sedan German vs. German

BMW didn't compare....5th Gear compared.

STi and EVO are logical comparisons. I'm sure they will be made.

[atr_hugo]

Yup - R&T had a big comparo in this latest issue of the Evo vs. STi, suspect they'll brush some of that off and throw the 135i into the mix. It'll hapen soon enough - remember the cycle time for the buff books is at least two months. Since they are just getting their hands on long term cars, expect to be reading those articles in the June/July issues of the magazine. (May 1st on sale date for a June 'edition', it's the end of Feb now, and magazines are 'put to bed' a couple of months in advance, so, for instance, that gives them a month to get everything together for a July issue.)

[turbomg]

Originally Posted by 0002s

How is it fair for Porsche to offer a coupe with 60 hp less and $15,000 more?

Man, no shit.

Porsche, listen guys, I want to give you my money. Really, I do. But you gotta look around the market a bit, BMW is making it really hard for me to buy a Cayman S.

[TwinturboBMW07]

and there is just one more reason for me to buy the 135i

[Dave]

Originally Posted by larryn

Another link to the streaming video, in divx format - much better quality than youtube.

thought i would bump this link from larry

great site and great quality videos

[Yearofthe1]

Originally Posted by izzodesh

thought i would bump this link from larry

great site and great quality videos

Unfortunately, that site is shutting down on Thursday

[Dave]

egad!
8(
sucks i found it so late

[scs]

found another working link

http://www.leechvideo.com/video/view4121765.html

[SapphireBlackG01]

AND I should mention that I'm surprised that hardly anyone EVER mentions the R32 as direct competition to the 135i.

Surely competition that's just as valid, if not moreso, as an Evo or STI, no?

[WAY]

No, R32 is a competitor to the 130i...which of course you guys don't get in the States.

[aesthetect]

id say its closer to the 135 than the 128. so, yes. and a fairly good competitor, depending on how you look at it. there are other countries besides the US?

[mbell75]

Originally Posted by xxpaintmepunkxx

AND I should mention that I'm surprised that hardly anyone EVER mentions the R32 as direct competition to the 135i.

Surely competition that's just as valid, if not moreso, as an Evo or STI, no?

no. The R32 is SLOW compared to the 135, Evo or STi. I just drove one last week. More comparable to the 128, WRX and upcoming turbo Ralliart.

[SapphireBlackG01]

Originally Posted by mbell75

no. The R32 is SLOW compared to the 135, Evo or STi. I just drove one last week. More comparable to the 128, WRX and upcoming turbo Ralliart.

Well, I meant that the R32 is priced high enough to compete with the 135i. It's within a couple grand - I think the MSRP is actually right smack between the 128i and 135i, thereby making a 128i a much smarter purchase than an R32 in my book. I know that it's quite a bit slower than the Evo X and co.

But to be honest, I kind of trust the R32's build quality much more than I trust the Mitsu's.

Just sitting in one at the autoshow shattered my hopes for that car. I felt like I was sitting in a tin can, and as much as I want to love the performance and the bargain proposition that it is, I can't bring myself to feel comfortable spending so much money on a car that I felt someone cheaped out on.

The same with the Eclipse. I could possibly forgive the fact that it weighs way too much and is only a mildly entertaining steer, because hey, it looks great. It would be easy to chalk it up as a better-looking Accord coupe competitor. But then you sit in it and you're like... what?

The turbo Ralliart... well, that might just be priced inexpensively enough for me to forget any resentments I might have about the $40,000 Lancer.

[mbell75]

Originally Posted by xxpaintmepunkxx

Well, I meant that the R32 is priced high enough to compete with the 135i. It's within a couple grand - I think the MSRP is actually right smack between the 128i and 135i, thereby making a 128i a much smarter purchase than an R32 in my book. I know that it's quite a bit slower than the Evo X and co.

But to be honest, I kind of trust the R32's build quality much more than I trust the Mitsu's.

Just sitting in one at the autoshow shattered my hopes for that car. I felt like I was sitting in a tin can, and as much as I want to love the performance and the bargain proposition that it is, I can't bring myself to feel comfortable spending so much money on a car that I felt someone cheaped out on.

The same with the Eclipse. I could possibly forgive the fact that it weighs way too much and is only a mildly entertaining steer, because hey, it looks great. It would be easy to chalk it up as a better-looking Accord coupe competitor. But then you sit in it and you're like... what?

The turbo Ralliart... well, that might just be priced inexpensively enough for me to forget any resentments I might have about the $40,000 Lancer.

I always get a kick out of how some people complain about the inside of an Evo like its a Geo Metro or something. Pretty silly. Its only $33k, not $40k. Again, people looking for a performance car usually dont care about luxury crap, just adds weight :biggrin:

[aesthetect]

ok we get it, youre going to strip the 135 interior on delivery. some want both, hilarious. $33k on a brand new car with a shitty/cheap interior? people have stated the reasons why they dont like that. and if its a performance car and they cheaped on the interior i hope they saved a ton of weight, but last i checked evo x is still pretty porky, they probably would have done better to lighten up in some other areas - if its truly a performance-designed car, right? and your boss is going to be really impressed when you drive to lunch, or your new girlfriend when you put your monkey suit on and go to the matinee. yes the 135 performs well, especially from a bang for the buck perspective (why lower to the competition?), but it is not an uncompromised, balls out sports car. unless its a 100% track toy (which, ok, thats all you care about) it matters to the majority of us, so theres no sense in repeating that it doesnt matter as much to you.

Originally Posted by mbell75

no. The R32 is SLOW compared to the 135, Evo or STi. I just drove one last week. More comparable to the 128, WRX and upcoming turbo Ralliart.

well there are a lot of members here that own R32s and are on the fence as to whether or not they want to give it up for a 135, so, yes.

[Numb3rs]

Originally Posted by mbell75

I always get a kick out of how some people complain about the inside of an Evo like its a Geo Metro or something. Pretty silly. Its only $33k, not $40k. Again, people looking for a performance car usually dont care about luxury crap, just adds weight :biggrin:

That ^^ is a flawed concept.

The premise for an EVo or an STI is that they are a Lancer and an Impreza. Nothing is wrong with that, the price is strictly incurred because of the pricey engine and performance modification added to the base car.

It's not hard to hit that particular performance/Price gap. Given the minimum "performance" most people want, the higher up you go in the price scale the more engineering is showcased. The BMW 135 is a prime example of this.

The 135i has a 6 cylinder, 10 speakers, full leather, real wood trim, etc and weighs less than the EVO and STI. BMW wasn't trying to make a rally car or to even compete with such vehicles. If they were, then they wouldn't have designed it so upright. The 135i is a perfect GT. But with that extra $$ you do get a more refined car that is capable of invading in on the rally car segment.

That said, the Lancer/Impreza is way down the list when talking about quality and interior, specially when holding it to BMW's watermark!