[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by Mr Carrots

Since I'm moving from CA to Texas where the gas isn't watered down garbage then I'll try a downpipe and running map 2 on the car to see if it makes me love the car again.

Actually, the gas in Texas is pretty darned similar to what's in Cali because we have some of the smoggiest and most ozone-prone cities in the country -- just like Cali does. You can bet on 10% Ethanol in pretty much every major city.

[Dylan86]

Originally Posted by nike001

Should've gotten a 6MT

M3/4 is an entirely different animal. I drove my old M235 after getting into my M4 and was astonished with how much body roll there was. No knock against the F22, but the F8x with the solid rear is stiff as hell.

Get a Z06 though, or an SS 1LE. Both are freaking lunatics. Even get a C/ATS-V Caddy if you want more luxury than a Chevy has

6MT is sweet on the 2er for sure, nice long gears to ring out the engine. What I meant by the M4 was related more to just the base power, vs FBO power. We have a FBO/Meth M4 in the family and it's fast, but not as fast as one would think after spending $10k on upgrades. In Canada that car done to the top would ring in over $100k, for that I'd rather have something more "special". If the M4 was a bit less dough, it would make more sense, to me it's not worth $40-50k more than an M235/40 or a premium over the M2, for what you get in the real world. It's a numbers car, and it's fast, but it's a bit underwhelming in stock form IMO, but it could just be the case that I've always had 4-500whp turbo cars. My other issues with the M4 is it gets on the power early, which ruins any chance of powering and hooking up through a corner. That is, unless you stick a big tire on it.. It's fun and all, but not for everyone I guess.

Good news is, BMW is making "the car" for everyone it seems.

[chattanooga240]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

You can bet on 10% Ethanol in pretty much every major city.

Yep, it is regulated as such now. You can still get regular 87 around here ethanol free, but not mid grade or premium.

[Zoogleboogle]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

Use the difference between your car and an M4 and buy one of these:



Problem WAY solved.

Im selling my Ducati to go TOWARDS an m235i!

Sport bikes are amazing vehicles.. on a track. They are just not useable on the road in a fun way, and my "i wont die, everything is fine!" days are past me after losing a few riding friends and countless close calls with texters... The speed is exciting at first and almost "annoying" after a while. You cant enjoy acceleration when you're going felony fast within seconds... Ive been on the highway and had someone cut in near me so I roll on half throttle to not get hit, and I'm doing 120 without even shifting. The torque to weight is so crazy that you can cruise in 5th or 6th and just roll on to double the highway speed limit in mere seconds.

I merged onto the highway last year in 3rd, maybe 2/3 throttle, never looked at my speedo because i was head checking the lane... I got pulled over immediately because I slowed down to traffic speed after merging - I wasn't trying to speed at all, merely merged into a gap and gave a little gas. Luckily I got out of that ticket... 115 mph in a 55 (everyone goes 80 here in new England in 55's, so i was merging into ~80-90 mph traffic on a short ramp)

There will always be faster things in a straight line, and you will always want something faster if youre that kind of person... which is why I am shopping based on "overall experience" of driving. Ill never match the acceleration of my $15K sportbike without spending what I paid for my house on a car.

I do plan on tuning the m235, but I even tuned my ducati - so Its more of a "getting the true potential" of a vehicle than "i need it to be faster" deal.

[Dylan86]

^^^ well said, had a GSXR 750 when I was 23 and getting rid of it probably saved my life. I bought it slightly modded and ran it at a few tracks in Ontario (omg fun!) but yea, it definitely started to make more sense having a full on race bike and a pickup when I lost my diaper buddy to a drunk driver. Now that I'm in the countryside I've thought about it again, but then you worry about deer/moose/caribou/goats etc around every hairpin.. Would rather spend more to have a fast car with the "4 walls" of protection.

Racing bikes is definitely cheaper than racing cars, but at least with a track ordered steeet car you have a bit of both worlds (street/track) and carry you gear/ tools with you.

[Zoogleboogle]

Originally Posted by Dylan86

^^^ well said, had a GSXR 750 when I was 23 and getting rid of it probably saved my life. I bought it slightly modded and ran it at a few tracks in Ontario (omg fun!) but yea, it definitely started to make more sense having a full on race bike and a pickup when I lost my diaper buddy to a drunk driver. Now that I'm in the countryside I've thought about it again, but then you worry about deer/moose/caribou/goats etc around every hairpin.. Would rather spend more to have a fast car with the "4 walls" of protection.

Racing bikes is definitely cheaper than racing cars, but at least with a track ordered steeet car you have a bit of both worlds (street/track) and carry you gear/ tools with you.

Originally Posted by Dylan86

^^^ well said, had a GSXR 750 when I was 23 and getting rid of it probably saved my life. I bought it slightly modded and ran it at a few tracks in Ontario (omg fun!) but yea, it definitely started to make more sense having a full on race bike and a pickup when I lost my diaper buddy to a drunk driver. Now that I'm in the countryside I've thought about it again, but then you worry about deer/moose/caribou/goats etc around every hairpin.. Would rather spend more to have a fast car with the "4 walls" of protection.

Racing bikes is definitely cheaper than racing cars, but at least with a track ordered steeet car you have a bit of both worlds (street/track) and carry you gear/ tools with you.

Yeah, I will most likely get a track bike (r6) in a few years and just stick to that. I love sport bikes, but I think the street isnt where they are best enjoyed!

[Maynard]

Glad to see this isn't a rare sentiment - they don't call them donorcycles for nothing (used to be 'the number' was 43, as in 43 times as likely to be in an accident vs. in a car). IIHS gold rating was definitely high on my priorities list. I have the same general feeling about the supercars and the 'still not fast enough' mentality - I can relate to the technical aspects (and the thrill of raw acceleration) but you can't much enjoy something that is felony-speed before you shift into 3rd, especially on the twisties.

[USA-RET]

Originally Posted by pikcachu

Some people will get bored no matter what car they get....

Very true. There are those rare folks that will never be satisfied w/ whatever they own until they kill themselves or somebody else pushing the speed envelope. I usually encounter at least one each time I ride the Interstate. Must be the GTA video generation.

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by Zoogleboogle

Sport bikes are amazing vehicles.. on a track. They are just not useable on the road in a fun way, and my "i wont die, everything is fine!" days are past me after losing a few riding friends and countless close calls with texters ... The speed is exciting at first and almost "annoying" after a while. You cant enjoy acceleration when you're going felony fast within seconds... Ive been on the highway and had someone cut in near me so I roll on half throttle to not get hit, and I'm doing 120 without even shifting. The torque to weight is so crazy that you can cruise in 5th or 6th and just roll on to double the highway speed limit in mere seconds.

I agree with everything but the first part about not being use-able and fun on public roads. Part of the joy of motorcycling is the knowledge that you can outperform anything on four wheels. With the proper skills, attitude, responsibility, and techniques, it can be relatively safe and great fun -- and in cultures and areas where motorcycles are accepted means of travel (i.e., most of Europe), it's even more this way. I rode mine on a near-daily basis in the Dallas area for nearly a decade, as well as went on regular long multistate trips ...

... but I hear you. I, too, got out while I had a head (and a working left knee; an old soccer injury drove me off sportbikes more than anything.) But hey: the OP asked, so I gave him a solution, ya know?

Originally Posted by Zoogleboogle

I do plan on tuning the m235, but I even tuned my ducati - so Its more of a "getting the true potential" of a vehicle than "i need it to be faster" deal.

Yep. I've purposefully never purchased the highest-performance version of any vehicle I've owned just because I can consider it an exercise to tailor its performance to my liking. I'd rather tinker and make something truly mine than accept whatever comes off the shelf. I mean, shoot: that's boring.

[pikcachu]

Originally Posted by USA-RET

Very true. There are those rare folks that will never be satisfied w/ whatever they own until they kill themselves or somebody else pushing the speed envelope. I usually encounter at least one each time I ride the Interstate. Must be the GTA video generation.

or TNFS video generation

[Zoogleboogle]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

I agree with everything but the first part about not being use-able and fun on public roads. Part of the joy of motorcycling is the knowledge that you can outperform anything on four wheels. With the proper skills, attitude, responsibility, and techniques, it can be relatively safe and great fun -- and in cultures and areas where motorcycles are accepted means of travel (i.e., most of Europe), it's even more this way. I rode mine on a near-daily basis in the Dallas area for nearly a decade, as well as went on regular long multistate trips ...

... but I hear you. I, too, got out while I had a head (and a working left knee; an old soccer injury drove me off sportbikes more than anything.) But hey: the OP asked, so I gave him a solution, ya know?

Yep. I've purposefully never purchased the highest-performance version of any vehicle I've owned just because I can consider it an exercise to tailor its performance to my liking. I'd rather tinker and make something truly mine than accept whatever comes off the shelf. I mean, shoot: that's boring.

Originally Posted by Viffermike

I agree with everything but the first part about not being use-able and fun on public roads. Part of the joy of motorcycling is the knowledge that you can outperform anything on four wheels. With the proper skills, attitude, responsibility, and techniques, it can be relatively safe and great fun -- and in cultures and areas where motorcycles are accepted means of travel (i.e., most of Europe), it's even more this way. I rode mine on a near-daily basis in the Dallas area for nearly a decade, as well as went on regular long multistate trips ...

... but I hear you. I, too, got out while I had a head (and a working left knee; an old soccer injury drove me off sportbikes more than anything.) But hey: the OP asked, so I gave him a solution, ya know?

Yep. I've purposefully never purchased the highest-performance version of any vehicle I've owned just because I can consider it an exercise to tailor its performance to my liking. I'd rather tinker and make something truly mine than accept whatever comes off the shelf. I mean, shoot: that's boring.

Yeah, Texas is very different than southern New Hampshire - I live in small, dense traffic, and side roads are thin, like - my truck fits on both lines wheel to wheel. I lost a friend to an Audi driver who cut the corner wide by 2 feet at the same time he was apexing the turn.

Ive rode in Texas visiting a friend and to me it was like having drag strips everywhere compared to here! I can see the appeal for muscle cars and street bikes when you go out west!

Either way, its certainly fun to be the fastest... for a little while :P

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by Zoogleboogle

Either way, its certainly fun to be the fastest...

This is the part most interesting to me. Not being sarcastic/wise guy, but actually wondering....if you enjoy the sensation/experience of whatever speed you can reach in your car/on your bike, why does it matter or change your experience if someone else can go faster?

[rightrudder]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

Part of the joy of motorcycling is the knowledge that you can outperform anything on four wheels.

On the straights, that is... Away from a light, it's pretty much no contest unless you're in a Bugatti Veyron or something.

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by rightrudder

On the straights, that is... Away from a light, it's pretty much no contest unless you're in a Bugatti Veyron or something.

Not true. Motorcycles also out-brake cars by a considerable margin and out-corner them marginally on good pavement WHEN the proper skills are present in the rider. Where one has to "watch it" is when the pavement is not good.

To me, that's another source of allure with the motorcycle: The rider matters. A lot. Any ol' Joe Megabucks with zero driver training can drive a Veyron relatively fast. That same dude with zero rider training can't ride a bike fast.

[rightrudder]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

Not true. Motorcycles also out-brake cars by a considerable margin and out-corner them marginally on good pavement WHEN the proper skills are present in the rider. Where one has to "watch it" is when the pavement is not good.

To me, that's another source of allure with the motorcycle: The rider matters. A lot. Any ol' Joe Megabucks with zero driver training can drive a Veyron relatively fast. That same dude with zero rider training can't ride a bike fast.

That depends on the car, depends on the bike, and depends on driver/rider skill. Just as an empirical data point, I've done a few outside passes on two-lane cloverleafs where the sportbike rider was trying really hard...full knee down, full lean. Great fun to see the look of surprise on their visored faces! This was with my E46, with M3-rate anti-roll bars and decent tires, but well short of R-comps...Conti ExtremeContact DWs. IIRC, treadwear of 340 or so. Of course, if there's any short chute, the bike's power-to-weight will allow an easy pass. Bikes have a much tougher, slower time in transitions too.

If you want to take it to the extreme, compared F1 cornering speeds with GP bikes. No contest.

[rightrudder]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

Any ol' Joe Megabucks with zero driver training can drive a Veyron relatively fast.

There's a huge chasm between driving fast and driving well. It's pretty obvious at any track day where noobs in C7 Vettes are routinely passed by experienced guys in Spec Miatas.

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by Sportstick

This is the part most interesting to me. Not being sarcastic/wise guy, but actually wondering....if you enjoy the sensation/experience of whatever speed you can reach in your car/on your bike, why does it matter or change your experience if someone else can go faster?

Correct. It doesn't matter.

The only thing that matters is the skunk car hiding behind the billboard.

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by Mr Carrots

The car was fun at first but to be brutally honest it just isn't quick enough, and the lack of punch on rolling starts is beginning to annoy me.

When the Honeymoon is over, it's time to move up to something new and once again, exciting. After all, it's only money! New excitement costs money. Right?

Nothing wrong with that. Basically, anyway.

[wjones14]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

I agree with everything but the first part about not being use-able and fun on public roads. Part of the joy of motorcycling is the knowledge that you can outperform anything on four wheels. With the proper skills, attitude, responsibility, and techniques, it can be relatively safe and great fun -- and in cultures and areas where motorcycles are accepted means of travel (i.e., most of Europe), it's even more this way. I rode mine on a near-daily basis in the Dallas area for nearly a decade, as well as went on regular long multistate trips ...

... but I hear you. I, too, got out while I had a head (and a working left knee; an old soccer injury drove me off sportbikes more than anything.) But hey: the OP asked, so I gave him a solution, ya know?

+1 about *respectfully* disagreeing with Zoogleboogle. I don't have the 'nads to track my Z1000, but it definitely is usable and fun on public roads! The sensation of speed on a bike is unlike any car short of an Ariel Atom. Your senses are all hyper alert when on a bike - it's impossible and crazy not to be super-aware. Performance cars have been my passion since owning a 1974 Z28 at 19 years old, but muscle bikes are just on another level when it comes to producing adrenaline. My bike is just an average literbike and it does 0-60 in 2.7 seconds. Imagine the thrill of a car that can accelerate as fast. Now double that thrill and that's what a literbike is like.

[Hops128i]

Start tracking your car.

[rightrudder]

I'm just thrilled to have a car that does 12s (albeit high 12s) in the quarter mile, right out of the box...with reliability, no thrown CELs, a warranty, etc. I figure I can get into far too much trouble with the just the factory goodness.

It helps that I came out of a 15-year-old 325i that might struggle to a 15.5 quarter, with 0-60 in the 7.5-sec. range. When you have that as your reference, the M240i is a rocket ship. The E46 is a wonderful, direct car, great for its day, but it feels a little tractor-like after a stint in the new machine.

[msej449]

Really, a good OP troll, but nevertheless interesting. For me, there's really only one car I would rather have:

https://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com...to-nature.html

and even then, I'd still be using the M235i 'vert for a lot of journeys. Plus I'm about $440,000 short of the funds for the Rolls-Royce Dawn. I'd also really need the yacht and villa in the South of France as, well, sort of accessories .....