Quote:
Originally Posted by dmboone25
The size of cars has generally gotten to an insane level, especially here in the US - I travel a decent amount for work in EMEA and Latin America, and you see more SUVs and the like in your average Kroger parking lot here than you do in an entire week in one of those locations. It's really quite interesting - folks in other parts of the world just don't want or need as much room.
As for the Midwest...I think the Wisconsin drivers are seriously the worst - you know how two heart cells will beat the exact same rhythm when they come in contact with one another? It's the same with the WI cars - I have never been anywhere else that has so many people content to drive the exact same speed at the car next to them 
In terms of the manual, I am glad I am back having one - it really does make the daily commute more fun. And the weight, somehow, doesn't feel substantially greater on the 2er compared to the 1er. It just feels a little bit bigger, all around.
I think we will see the Jenny Craig diet on the M2 - which will be phenominal if they make it as good as they can. |
Ha Ha! Yeah I never can understand why people will drive at exactly the same speed next to each other. It's so brainless that words can't express my feelings on that topic. Should either vehicle need to make an emergency maneuver out of the lane they will hit each other.
The concept of the passing lane is completely absent. In fact according the Illinois "rules of the road" manual there is no passing lane and all lanes are "driving" lanes. They've thrown all common sense out of the window. So even driver education is so flawed that we cannot even have hope that one day people will learn to use and share the road properly. Speaking of sharing, that is another absent concept. The person who wants to turn left only cares about themselves, they have not a concern about the people behind them who also need to make that turn. If driving is so scary that mere survival is the only concern then I feel they shouldn't be on the road. Speaking of being on the road I've never seen so many people drive like they have no reason or purpose for being on it in the first place.
I've seen jammed up 20MPH traffic up until a point and when I pass the jam I've seen just plain empty road. There was no reason at all for the jam - none whatsoever. You'll see that when you take the blue line train at times. Jammed up traffic and at some point clear open road. It's just terrible driver mentality. Contrast that with driving on the NJ turnpike. It's as close to autobahn driving as I've seen in the US. Left lane always free with cars passing at 100MPH. People don't get in that lane unless they are passing. Just some observations on the cultural aspects of road use between the two regions.
Anyway getting back to the topic, I miss having a manual and while there will be painful left leg moments - thanks in large part to "fake" stop and go zones - it is by far the more involving way to drive. The connection between you and your machine is like nothing else. Your foot controls precisely the way power is sent from your engine to your wheels. Nothing can be better than that. While some will argue that there are computers controlling the engine and the e-diff you still can learn to launch without engaging those systems. That's also something I wonder about. Even with PSSs on my 135i I have the DTC engage often, I'll bet the systems are much better tuned on the M235i. Especially since the PSS is the stock tire on that car.