My 135i test drive, from a Z06 owner

[Thud]

I finally got to test drive the 135i at Roswell BMW.. my SGM 1-er will be arriving late April, so it was good to try it out hands-on and make sure I still wanted the car. :biggrin:

The best part is I got to drive the car by myself. :thumbup: I knew that the weight of a passenger would change the way the car felt so I got lucky.

My Z06 is on consignment and I haven't driven it in 3 weeks or so, and my daily driver has been my Audi A4. So, I was very pleasantly surprised at how quick the 135 felt. The demo car was an automatic with sport package (like all the demo cars) and first gear goes by very quick. The car simply hauls ass.

Now, it doesn't quite haul ass in the same way as the vette. It's down by 90hp at the wheels (both cars are underrated, mind you... but we're talking 275 vs 365 rwhp stock on dynos), and the Z06 weighs a couple hundred pounds less.
But the Z is so fast that you simply can't go WOT on the street that often. In the winter time, you won't get any traction at all until 3rd gear.

The BMW is a nice contrast in that it still FEELS very fast, maybe not as eyeball-sucking, but the fun factor is still very much there. The fact that the car is smaller, and the seats are much more snug, enhance the effect. I never really warmed up to the C5 corvette's rather large size. The 135i with the sport seats had a much more snug (but not cramped) feel, that fits like a glove, which reminded me of my previous beloved 1993 corvette with its phenomenal rib-cage gripping sport seats!

I also had the opportunity to go on some twisty back roads. It doesn't have the ridiculous amount of grip that the Z06 has, naturally. But then again, you don't have to use your knee against the door to brace yourself around turns either. While the Z06 has insane amounts of grip, it'll keep on gripping until all of a sudden it doesn't. There's no warning when that happens. And that can be rather surprising.

I drove the 135 hard enough to experience the understeer, which in "spirited" street driving, is not unpleasant. It's more of a feeling that the car is not going to get you into much trouble, and most of all you know exactly what it's going to do. The Z06 is less forgiving, there's less feedback as to what the car is doing and if you're not extra careful with the right pedal, you'll find yourself in a situation where the active handling kicks in to save your butt.

I'm not saying the Z06 isn't a fun car. It's way fun. In fact it scared the living crap out of me for the first 2 weeks I owned it (which I later learned was due to bad rear-wheel alignment which made the rear end much more squirrely than it should have been). But it's capable of so much that you won't get near half of its capabilities by merely driving on the street. The small, nimble, less-capable 135i is actually more fun. Fun isn't measured by quarter mile times, or skidpad ratings, it seems.
It does remind me a bit of the Mini Cooper I drove a month ago, with the go-kart feeling.

And the fact that the car is so solidly built, with that EXCELLENT sport steering wheel guiding your way, this car made me giddy as a schoolgirl in a way that I haven't felt since I was in high school and my dad let me drive his corvette for the first time (back in 1990).

I'm going to love this car!!!:roundel:

By the way, even in stock form this car is highly entertaining, but with a PRO-cede it's just gonna be NUTS!

[imported_Katera]

Nice! Ya know, I have talked two guys recently that totaled their Vettes. Both told the same story, "I was driving aggressive, but not too hard and all of the sudden BAM! The rear end lost traction, they hit the curb and the rest was history...". Scary in deed.

[1ToBeOn2Wheels]

I had a Corvette C4 LT1 in my family, and I remember driving it and unwillingly getting the back end out at only moderate-speed corners. The Corvette is definitely not a novice's car.

Thanks for the write up.:w00t:

[bimmernet]

I remember as a kid a story about one of my older brother friends that had a '61 315hp Fuelie and while driving up (CA) Highway 1 going hard into an outside corner, the rear end lets go and he's off a very steep, nearly vertical slide drop... backwards. Slid down a few hundred feet until the brush and debris stopped him 60 feet from the rocks. Then when I was 19 I traded (for one night only) my '69 Z28 for my buddy's '69 390hp 427. Going around a fast sweeper my Camaro would just gently push around, the damn Vette lets go at the back like it's on caster jacks and I'm looking out the passenger's window past the terrified face of my girl friend while my Camaro disappears around the corner...as soon as I could catch up to my car I told the Vette owner that I had to get my girl home and we traded back. If that sudden oversteer is a handling feature, which after 40+ years they could have tuned out, then they should only sell them to graduates of Bondurant or require private tutoring by Ron Fellows.

Bimmernet

Originally Posted by Katera

Nice! Ya know, I have talked two guys recently that totaled their Vettes. Both told the same story, "I was driving aggressive, but not too hard and all of the sudden BAM! The rear end lost traction, they hit the curb and the rest was history...". Scary in deed.

[Redy2Go 135i]

yeah perhaps stock to stock it doesnt have as much grip as the Z06, it will be easily cured when you place a wider tire up front on the 135 though. it will outperform many sports cars

[vanbmw]

Nice review. It is interesting to get the perspective of someone that drives a faster, more powerful car.

[Hypnoz]

Good review, thanks for sharing. Z06 is for sure a different kind of car, but I think you have a good point.