View Single Post
      04-20-2021, 01:43 PM   #21
somer
Major
946
Rep
1,044
Posts

Drives: F10 M5 CP
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: FL

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by brad850csi View Post
I drove the current M3/M4/M5/M8 at Hampton downs this last week. It is a smooth track so I can't comment on how comfortable the cars will be on a normal road. We were following an instructor in an M440i xdrive who said he was driving pretty much flat out apart from the start/finish straight where we were limited to 160kmh (in the real world about 180kmh)

I will drive another one next week sometime and will take it on roads that are similar to the roads around Yarra, Gembrook etc near where my Auntie lives - I know those roads well and we have a bunch of similar ones just out of Auckland. Not sure if you head out that way much though Jukka?

The M5 to me felt a lot heavier and reluctant to change direction compared to the M3/4/8. Mid corner it felt like it had some mass to it as well and would understeer whereas the others didn't. In saying that I know that the M5 would be about the same speed as my M6 or a bit quicker around a racetreack but it didn't seem to enjoy it.

The M3/4 felt quite similar to the M8 and while I haven't been around Hampton Downs in the M6 for about 15 months I think that all of them felt fairly similar for the level that we were able to drive the cars.

What I will say is that multiple down changes were quite a bit slower in all of them with the ZF8 compared to the DCT which I was disappointed about.

In regards to engine response, they reminded me of driving an Evo or similar with a reasonable amount of lag.

If I'm in 2nd in my car and floor it at 2000rpm it is on boost at 2750rpm or so and is pulling hard. In 3rd it is on boost at 2500rpm if flooring it from 2000rpm. In the M3/4 it delayed by about 1000-1500rpm or so in each gear. In 2nd the revs need to be above 3500rpm to get any decent response for example.

So if you like the low rpm responsiveness of the S63TU then I don't think the M3/4 is for you. Once the turbos were awake though and on boost they pull hard to 7200rpm.

The other big things for me were:

1. The carbon seats which all of the track cars had are very comfortable once in them but the sides are high and close to racking buckets. If I had a cruiser car and was speccing up an M4 to be a weekend track/targa type car then I'd have them but for me I get in and out of my car quite a few times a day and it'd drive me insane. On the other hand if some celebrities that like wearing short skirts/dresses buy some the paparazzi will have some fun.

2. The fuel tank is 59 litres and I'm not sure how that will work with my driving style. I did 650km yesterday, 920km over Easter weekend, 550km last weekend and next weekend I'll be doing ~900km. To me the fun of owning a car like this is going for long country drives on open roads and the small fuel tank would be an issue for me as 98 Octane isn't that common here in the middle of nowhere. The M8 is only 68 litres and will probably consume a bit more than the M6. The M3/4 will consume less but I can't see their open road range being as good as in the M6.

3. Isle of Man Green is amazing. Portimao blue is quite nice too but San Marino is better I think.


Finally when I've driven the F8x on the street and an M8 I felt the power steering was absolutely horrible. On the track I feel this is masked a bit as for these short sessions you are typically a bit busy with everything else going on and are driving around corners with a consistent radius. I thought the steering was a bit better on them than on the M5/8 but will comment further after my street drive.
Appreciate the write up!
Appreciate 0