[xantdieselx]

Another forum member and myself have been trying to link up for a run for the last couple of weeks.Yesterday was a beautiful day so we got to take our cars for a nice 10-15 mile run over a good mix of roads.

The route took us from Warwick to East/West Greenwich through Coventry and finally back to Warwick. The roads varied from tight hair pins, to long sweepers, switch-backs with single lane roads and some fairly long straights to stretch both cars legs. It was really a mix of surfaces. Broken pavement, undulating portions with elevation changes and even some sandy sections to add to the fun.

The Cars:

Mine - 2016 M235i X-Drive 8AT- MG/Terra - My car had Driver's ASST, HK Audio, Sunroof and heated seats. Not the heaviest configuration also not the lightest. My car has 2400 miles and is bone stock with Pirelli RFT's at factory recommended PSI.

His - 2015 228i RWD 6MT MSport - Blue/Black - I know his car has Tech, Premium, MSport and roof. He's running Stock Staggered Summer Only rubber - I don't think he has the PSS tires - they are OEM maybe Conti's? Car has approximately 12k on it.

Drivers:

Me - I've done some track events and been to BMW PDC for a full one day school. I am no means a professional but I have learned some good techniques from some really talented individuals.

Him - Like me he's done some autocross events and I would think has a similar skill set to me.

Impressions:

I'll say going into it I thought it would be a case of the M235i beating up on the smaller 228i. I've driven both the 228i and M235i on track before. While the 228i by no means felt slow I remember the M235i pulling like a beast. Was I wrong about my initial impression? You'll just have to read to find out!

We started off from my house in Warwick and made our way through E.G. Nothing dramatic here, just cruising on a beautiful morning letting our cars get up to temp. I started off in Sport + but kept the car in auto. We took a right turn onto some back roads. His 228i turned in sharply, tucked in and powered out of the slow right hander. I turned in through the apex and went to put the power down...there was a pause then the car dropped 2 gears and took off like a shot. Ok, time to put it in manual mode and keep it there.

I would put it back in full auto mode once more a little further into the drive to see if it could redeem itself. Again it didn't last to long. I wouldn't say it was terrible. It just had a habit of shifting into a higher gear(s) too soon. This only meant that when you wanted so thrust you would get 2 gears worth and sometimes more than you would need.

We started off with him in the lead and me following. The pace was about 6/10ths and I kept about 3-4 cars behind to give us both some room. After about 5 minutes I decided to put a little pressure on him. I closed up the gap to see if he could pull away from me. He pulled, I was more than able to stay with him.

We got to a main road and decided we would switch off so that I could lead. Into a straight, I took off from a stop the AWD biting and put some distance on him. He caught up rather quickly which surprised me a bit. The next section of road had some tight turns with some nice elevation changes. Certainly we would see who would hang with with who.

From my perspective driving the M235i it went like this:

Setup for the corner, sometimes this meant gradual braking keeping the weight neutral, other times this meant late braking allowing the nose to tuck in. Turn in - good initial bite, brakes felt solid, but I could feel the weight of the AWD. The Pirellis never fully gave up into full-on understeer but you could feel their limit of grip.

The mid corner understeer could be handled in one of two ways – either wait a little longer until the wheel was straight to get back on the power (I can always remember the voice of of one of the PCD driver instructors in my head “Don't get on the power with so much wheel in it!”) or put your foot down and let the AWD figure it out. At first I went with the former and but quickly learned the latter was much more fun.

There were a couple of times when I took the second approach through the turn and the car just gripped , put the power down and launched from the turn. It's hard to explain but the car put the power down so well that it was beating up my neck and my obliques.

The whole time I'm experimenting with setup and he is right on me. He was able to carry more speed into the corner catching up to me. That car has great turn in and balance. Exiting the corner he was right on me then I was able to put a little distance on him in the straight. Back into the twisty bits and the same result.

We talked after and he mentioned that the 8AT in my car was something else. He would get caught in a higher gear and my car would just take off from him. I've got to say that it was pretty even (the straights aside of course). The lighter weight, better balance and RWD of the 228i was enough to negate the power difference of our two cars in the twisties. It would be really interesting to see how a RWD M235i with PSS matched up with the 228i on a technical track. There were a couple of times his back end stepped out, nothing lurid like a Chris Harris smoky burnout, just kicked out gradually. I do miss that feeling you get from an RWD car.

Another thing to note is that BMW did their homework on the suspension for the M235i. We were taking some pretty bumpy sections at a good clip and not once did the car ever feel unsettled. The body stayed flat and the suspension did the work. There was one section that was coming downhill from a long straight into a hair-pin right hander. About 100 ft from the turn I saw that it was covered in sand. Full brake I was able to shed quite a bit of speed but still hit the sand at a good clip. The car just stayed planted and never left the lane. There was a little squirm but nothing to make you soil your drawers.

All in all it was a great run that put a smile on my face for the rest of the day. It was also an eye opening experience for me seeing how well the 228i can hold its own.

[DanG]

I think your main problem is that you are running run flat tires. Switch to Michelin A/S 3+ and you will have much more speed in the corners and better bite. The 228 then won't stand a chance to keep up.

[xantdieselx]

Originally Posted by DanG

I think your main problem is that you are running run flat tires. Switch to Michelin A/S 3+ and you will have much more speed in the corners and better bite. The 228 then won't stand a chance to keep up.

I don't know - my car is about 3695lbs per Edmunds and the 6MT is 3260 (Jalopnik). That's almost 450lbs. In a straight line it's no contest but in the twisty bits it's a different story. If I were to swap out tires it would be for PSS summers. That would help a lot I'm willing to bet.

[geep81]

That was a nice read. Thanks!

[Devon K]

So the X-Drive weight penalty is about 170-180 lbs? With around 80% of that on the nose... If I had a daily commute here in the winter I'd still go for it. Fortunately I don't.

[Tpeterson]

Great post! Not that I needed any, it reinforces my decision to buy a 228i THP.That option might have tipped the comparison in the 228i's favor.

[xantdieselx]

Originally Posted by geep81

That was a nice read. Thanks!

Glad you enjoyed it!

[xantdieselx]

Originally Posted by Devon K

So the X-Drive weight penalty is about 170-180 lbs? With around 80% of that on the nose... If I had a daily commute here in the winter I'd still go for it. Fortunately I don't.

Yeah I went back and forth a few times. For me it's just piece of mind. I got my car in March and we had a big snow storm 2 weeks later (I was pissed). The M235i is even better than my previous F30 x-drive. I was actually pleasantly surprised at how well it drove in the snow.

[xantdieselx]

Originally Posted by Tpeterson

Great post! Not that I needed any, it reinforces my decision to buy a 228i THP.That option might have tipped the comparison in the 228i's favor.

You can't go wrong with that setup. Add a tune and watch the smile on your face grow even bigger.