Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam@Bimmerpost
Thank you!
About weight, the M235i does feel its weight. The extra bulk can be felt quite apparently in the tight handling course, especially during direction changes. The feeling is that of quite a bit of momentum to herd around. It's well managed and very predictable, but my dream would be to see a street legal competition version, stripped down and lose 2-300 lbs. Dreaming, I know, but let's see what they do if/when they release an M2!
In terms of comparing weight to E90 M3, we have to remember that the M3 was no lightweight either. The M3 masked this very well with a very fast ratio steering system and an aggressive suspension set up. But I remember the tire wear on my own M3 (especially the fronts) and this reinforces the notion that BMWs have become quite heavy and are set up to mask that mass as tightly as possible. The penalty seems to be rapid tire wear. Of course, I prefer to have just a lighter car to begin with.
I'm seeing a few comments about my comparison to the E90 M3's steering feel. I want to clarify that I am comparing specifically the 'feel' based on the metrics I described in the beginning of the article, not necessarily the entire system.
As a whole, I still prefer the E90 M3's steering because we mustn't forget that steering is inextricably tied to suspension and the E90 M3 had a more focused suspension and it cornered more satisfyingly as a result.
What I am really saying is that in terms of 'feel', the EPS in the M235i is not bad at all and certainly no worse than the E90 M3's hydraulic in 'feel'. This does not necessarily imply that every part of the steering experience is just as good, but I would say it's not that far off!
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Sam, have you ever driven a Z4M or have any comments on how it would compare to the M235i? Not just in steering but overall.