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...now I want an M3 even more...
smilie_drool.gif
 
edesignuk said:
...now I want an M3 even more...
smilie_drool.gif

you got admit, it's abit more original than putting one in Quark though.... heheheh

makes you wonder what they've hidden in the technofest that is the iDrive... :eek: :eek: :p :p
 
jeffy.dee-lux said:
not to be one of those annoying knowitalls.... sorry... but yeah, that's really old news. aww man, i can't believe i just said, i'm sorry dude. i don't actually even remember how old the article is, maybe its not even a year old.
anyways, yeah, that's cool stuff... crazy electronics. I want an smg for my kona.

I've never heard about it... but I figure that's more to do with the fact that I don't follow BMW's much... as I'm not much of a fan.

Although I recall Autocar Mag toasted a conventional M3's clutch after only a handful of launches in a back-to-back comparison with an SMG box to decide which was the consistently quicker car off the line...
 
For lucky drivers of this hot car, here's how: Switch off the stability system and select shift program six. Switch the engine to sport mode. With the hand shifter in drive, hold it in the downshift position and press the gas pedal. The engine will rev to the preprogrammed rpm and hold. Now release the shifter. The car will launch forward violently and the engine's revs will climb quickly, so be prepared to upshift.

Talk about a crazy sequence, though. I imagine you'd have to try it more than once to get it right and memorize the sequence - and then a few more on a straight road for fun :D

Wow, that's just great.

D
 
krimson said:
hmm... guess i'll have to start saving just a little more, and faster. :D


maybe by the time you have the money, you can get yourself an m4... that's gonna take over the roll of two door versions of the 3 series, and therefore the current m3, except that i've heard that the m4 would more or less fill the gap between the m3 and the m5, putting it at around 400hp. Some pics of the car have shown exhaust tips placed far apart on either side, suggesting exhaust lines coming from two banks of cylinders, ie a v8, as opposed to the current m3's more centralized exhaust tips, coming off of the inline 6, so this ~400hp might be somewhat accurate.
 
ExoticFish said:
now if only i could do that with one of those motorized carts at Wal-Mart.

Please explain. We have walmarts here in canada, but no motorized carts.

Do people use these to drive around in while shopping? Is it like a shopping cart that you can sit on that also has a motor?
 
oldschool said:
Please explain. We have walmarts here in canada, but no motorized carts.

Do people use these to drive around in while shopping? Is it like a shopping cart that you can sit on that also has a motor?

They're provided for people that have difficulty walking... supposedly for the handicapped, but mostly it's just morbidly obese people I see using them. They're just cheap versions of Rascal scooters, they hold a very short charge and recharge by plugging in. Basket on front. These are a holdover from when Wal-mart was actually a decent company, i doubt they'll be replaced when they fall into disrepair under the current owners.

paul
 
jeffy.dee-lux said:
maybe by the time you have the money, you can get yourself an m4... that's gonna take over the roll of two door versions of the 3 series, and therefore the current m3, except that i've heard that the m4 would more or less fill the gap between the m3 and the m5, putting it at around 400hp. Some pics of the car have shown exhaust tips placed far apart on either side, suggesting exhaust lines coming from two banks of cylinders, ie a v8, as opposed to the current m3's more centralized exhaust tips, coming off of the inline 6, so this ~400hp might be somewhat accurate.


i'd have to see it first before anything, i do like the new 6 series, so i think they're going in a good direction, but for now, it's the M3 SMG, or the S4 :)
 
krimson said:
i'd have to see it first before anything, i do like the new 6 series, so i think they're going in a good direction, but for now, it's the M3 SMG, or the S4 :)

yeah, the new s4 is crazy, they went through a lot of trouble to stuff that v8 in there, had to displace all sorts of things. I read a comparison of the S4, M3, and C32 or whatever the equiv amg would be in like road and track or car and driver or something... the s4 came out on top.

i've seen some pics of the m4, lemme see if i can find you one.

http://www.imakenews.com/autospies/e_article000218364.cfm

well that's just the regular 4 series, i guess the m4 won't be available till the 2007 model year or something. i think the m versions usually come out about a year after the regular ones.
 
cocopelli said:
Why not just get an actual 6-speed?

Because the SMG's are consistently quicker over a number of standing starts (launching a manual car, perfectly everytime to 100% of the cars ability is impossible) they provide quicker shifts, they have that funky (former F1 tech launch control) which is sadly detuned for the yank version.

During a Autocar mag test, the conventional M3 couldn't handle more than 5 race launches without frying it's clutch, the SMG kept going like a Duracell bunny.

I personally would take a Tiptronic/Semi Automatic gearbox over a manual anyday of the week... and pref with an auto mode for city driving, clutches are a royal pain when you're stuck in a traffic jam. ;)
 
I still say it's laziness. People would rather talk on their cell phone and drink their fancy coffees more than actually giving a damn about driving their car. There isn't much fun out of a sports car if you can't feel the clutch and reach that level of oneness when you shift between the gears and learn how to work the engine perfectly to your every situation. Driving in city traffic really isn't that bad if you learn to keep gentle on the clutch and let it coast between stop and go. My car can work first gear pretty well to creep with traffic and has really good rolling efficiency to get through traffic with minimal need to shift in and out of first and second.
 
iGAV said:
I personally would take a Tiptronic/Semi Automatic gearbox over a manual anyday of the week... and pref with an auto mode for city driving, clutches are a royal pain when you're stuck in a traffic jam. ;)

you have to admit that clutches are fun just for you to cane the pants off your car. but i suppose you live in the city, i live in the country with winding roads that are grat for driving on.

using hte clutch is the only way i get anything out of my 1 litre 50hp vw lupo, but it is bloody fun to drive!
 
Powerbook G5 said:
I still say it's laziness. People would rather talk on their cell phone and drink their fancy coffees more than actually giving a damn about driving their car. There isn't much fun out of a sports car if you can't feel the clutch and reach that level of oneness when you shift between the gears and learn how to work the engine perfectly to your every situation. Driving in city traffic really isn't that bad if you learn to keep gentle on the clutch and let it coast between stop and go. My car can work first gear pretty well to creep with traffic and has really good rolling efficiency to get through traffic with minimal need to shift in and out of first and second.

A non-switchable Auto is lazy... but a Tiptronic/Semi Auto certainly isn't... you still manually decide when to change, it's just that the changes are much quicker, meaning that the car is quicker....

I love manual cars, they're the transmission of choice in the UK, and you pretty much have to learn in one... but on a twisty road, a Tiptronic is just as much fun as a conventional manual, and in my opinion you can concentrate more on positioning the car, as well as balancing the car on the brakes and throttle through corners, without having to resort to abit of heel and toe action which can be a tad risky on the road, and nigh on impossible with many cars current pedal positioning set ups.

But they can't be all that bad though... the Ferrari Enzo is semi-automatic, WRC's use sequential shifts and F1 cars are semi-automatic (were fully automatic until the start of this year)... :D

Clutches are still hideous after a 200 mile dash from Leeds to London and then being stuck on the M25 for an hour and then 3 hours on the North Circ... stopping and staring with seemingly no pattern... there's no driving pleasure in that, unless the driver is a Sadist... heheh
 
russed said:
you have to admit that clutches are fun just for you to cane the pants off your car. but i suppose you live in the city, i live in the country with winding roads that are grat for driving on.

using hte clutch is the only way i get anything out of my 1 litre 50hp vw lupo, but it is bloody fun to drive!

Lets not misunderstand me here, I'm not a huge fan of conventional Automatics... they're totally devoid of driver interaction... but I love Tiptronics and Semi Automatics (as much as I do manuals) which are very different.

For tyre smoking yobbish fun... the clutch is great.. :D it's also fun to drive on fast, twisty roads... Automatics can't compare in terms of driver satisfaction in any area.

But a SMG or Tiptronic isn't a conventional Auto box, the driver still has control... an SMG box on your Lupo would offer many benefits, consistently quicker starts for one... ;) where as a conventional Auto would suck all the power from it....

Twisty roads.... cheeky monkey... :eek: :p :p
 
iGAV said:
Twisty roads.... cheeky monkey... :eek: :p :p

i know how i long to be back in my car doing 70 down a country lane nearly crashing into tractors and mad farmers along the way!

(im at uni and am deprived of my car in 10 week stints called term time as the tossers wont give me a parking permit!)
 
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