SCI Pans the 135i

[SCMike]

Originally Posted by john970

pans the 135i? It got second out of 4 on one consideration, driving at the limit...

misleading title...

Yeah, I confess - I couldn't resist doin' a bit of the stick-in-the-eye. :wink: I was hoping to ignite some conversations about 135i handling, and that seems to have worked. I do hope BMW Engineering occasionally lurks on this Forum. The future can only bring improvements (I hope.....).

[Neo187H]

So this is the car that was beat by a not even four seconds around a track by the track MACHINE Evo and you say it can't handle? It was beat by 2.2% of the track time, I would hardly say thats an old school muscle car. Even MotorTrend says understeer was "minimal". Or where they tested it and got 1.4Gs max lateral accel from the Evo and 1.3 from the 135i. In just about every other comparo the 135i has been put in the 135i tops out, even beating a Porsche costing 10K more than it around the track. Stupid Porsches, can't handle worth a damn.

[SCMike]

Originally Posted by Neo187H

So this is the car that was beat by a not even four seconds around a track by the track MACHINE Evo and you say it can't handle? It was beat by 2.2% of the track time, I would hardly say thats an old school muscle car. Even MotorTrend says understeer was "minimal". Or where they tested it and got 1.4Gs max lateral accel from the Evo and 1.3 from the 135i. In just about every other comparo the 135i has been put in the 135i tops out, even beating a Porsche costing 10K more than it around the track. Stupid Porsches, can't handle worth a damn.

Sigh.....

[Neo187H]

Originally Posted by SCMike

Sigh.....

Yes I got slightly defensive but someone had to when the cat is being compared to a 60's muscle car. Its not like its a Mustang still using a solid rear axle.

[oneaabe]

Originally Posted by Zuzu

The report doesnt mention whether the 135i test car was the standard model or had the M Sports pack fitted which has the firmer suspension..
Or did i miss it somewhere?:iono:

135i comes standard with the sport-tuned suspension. The sports pack does NOT upgrade the suspension. It only adds (great) sports seats, shadowline trim, M steering wheel, and M-logo shifter (on 6MT cars)

[tonytigerking]

Originally Posted by oneaabe

135i comes standard with the sport-tuned suspension. The sports pack does NOT upgrade the suspension. It only adds (great) sports seats, shadowline trim, M steering wheel, and M-logo shifter (on 6MT cars)

And, increased top speed limiter. Anyone know by how much?

[sunking420]

Seeing as I'm not Juan Pablo Montoya, I think I'll be pleased with the 135i....

[Dan203]

Originally Posted by tonytigerking

And, increased top speed limiter. Anyone know by how much?

I believe it's 20mph from 135mph to 155mph

Dan

[john970]

Originally Posted by Dan203

I believe it's 20mph from 135mph to 155mph

Dan

I thought it was supposed to be 149 (actual). I've hit about 160 indicated on the autobahn.

[adc]

Originally Posted by Tom K.

Did the 335i have the SP? If not, you probably drove on the Bridgestone Turanza EL42 all-seasons which have gotten generally crappy reviews. Try the Potenza 050As which come with the SP on both the 335i and the 135i (but not the 128i SP) and you might alter your opinion.
Tom

The 335 DID have the Sport Pack - as mine does. Runflats, yes even in RE050 format, suck.

I suggest you try the opposite, a 335 SP or 135i SP with non-runflat tires and come back to share your opinion.

[john970]

Originally Posted by amdmaxx

GT2 is a purpuse build machine, like V-spec will be.
So may I say in advance: V-spec will beat GT2?
think 350lb lighter, think 75 more hp than current GT-R.

A 997 GT2, driven by a pro rally driver, ran the nurburgring with semi-slick tires, and another pro driver ran the nurburgring with stock run-flat tires. Here are the results:

GT2: 7:32 <-- semi slicks
Stock GT-R: 7:29 <-- run-flats

So I guess I was wrong, the gt2 won't beat it...

The drivers were Toshio Suzuki (nissan) and Walter Röhrl (gt2). .

[whya1?]

Originally Posted by john970

A 997 GT2, driven by a pro rally driver, ran the nurburgring with semi-slick tires, and another pro driver ran the nurburgring with stock run-flat tires. Here are the results:

GT2: 7:32 <-- semi slicks
Stock GT-R: 7:29 <-- run-flats

So I guess I was wrong, the gt2 won't beat it...

The drivers were Toshio Suzuki (nissan) and Walter Röhrl (gt2). .

Who cares? You, I and everyone else on this forum are dozens of steps lower on the skill level than either of those two. Driving around a humongous race track in Germany and getting lap times withen 3 seconds of each other means those cars are more or less identical in abilities. With the technology available in the GTR it will mostly likely make YOU faster and that is all that matters.

Of course if you are spending that much money on a car and arent' fabulously wealthy you want to eventually take it on the street. And the GT2 is better looking and a Porsche. The GTR could be capable of flight and curing male pattern baldness and Porsche owners still wouldn't buy it. That video game look is just too much for me. Sorry Nissan, a super car has to look super.

[Dan203]

Originally Posted by john970

I thought it was supposed to be 149 (actual). I've hit about 160 indicated on the autobahn.

OK I just looked it up. According to BMWs website the top speed of the 135i is 150mph regardless. It's the 128i that is limited to 130mph, and bumped to 150 with the sport package. So the top speed must have something to do with the suspension. Since all 135is have the sport suspension and 128is only get it with the sport package.

Dan

[aesthetect]

Originally Posted by R32

"throw" an R32 (my car) or evo into a corner, don't chicken out on the gas, and you come out on the other side looking like a hero. it is fun, but ultimately is it that challenging? i suspect that in the short amount of time that a reviewer gets to drive a car, he will extract more potential of an awd car than he would from a rwd car.

higher highs and lower lows? to be sure the rwd bmw will punish your mistakes and reward your skill more than an awd car.

its a car that extracts optimum driving dynamics through computer control of all four wheels versus a rear wheel drive car of a more classic sense (albeit with a healthy dose of electronic gadgetry, as is unavoidable today). honestly its a really similar to the manual vs auto debate. if youre the kind of person who wants the car to do the work and let you reward from it by just mashing the throttle, get an EVO and some paddles. you want to go have fun, maybe hang the ass out, but do all of it with YOU in control, get a 135 with a manual.

after a lap around a track..
evo owner: "yes! best lap time by 0.79 seconds!"
135i owner: "dude! did you see that hairy slide around turn 5?? i didnt even mean to but caught it perfectly!"


not trying to take anything away from the EVO whatsoever, but my post shows where my priorities lie.

[imported_Katera]

Originally Posted by aesthetect

its a car that extracts optimum driving dynamics through computer control of all four wheels versus a rear wheel drive car of a more classic sense (albeit with a healthy dose of electronic gadgetry, as is unavoidable today). honestly its a really similar to the manual vs auto debate. if youre the kind of person who wants the car to do the work and let you reward from it by just mashing the throttle, get an EVO and some paddles. you want to go have fun, maybe hang the ass out, but do all of it with YOU in control, get a 135 with a manual.

after a lap around a track..
evo owner: "yes! best lap time by 0.79 seconds!"
135i owner: "dude! did you see that hairy slide around turn 5?? i didnt even mean to but caught it perfectly!"


not trying to take anything away from the EVO whatsoever, but my post shows where my priorities lie.

Totally agree.