Quote:
Originally Posted by Remonster
Quote:
Originally Posted by chris719
Most BMWs have underachieved on the lightning lap for the following reasons:
1. It's a power track and BMWs are not usually the most powerful car in their class.
2. Before the AWD M5, BMWs struggle to put the power down because they are RWD and don't use 305+ section width tires like the Americans.
3. BMW can't seem to get the suspension tuning right on the F8x series cars.
The reality is that BMW isn't really out to compete for lap times. They will name cars "competition", but they still want to sell you a daily driver, GTS aside. They don't put the same amount of money into the extremes of performance as their competitors.
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I would say BMW has always been much more concerned with how their cars feel at their limit than with how high those limits are or how quick their performance numbers are.
When I first got my F80, I was surprised by how easily the stock custom Pilot Super Sports would break traction, how overly stretched they seemed to be, etc. so I experimented with a few different sets of 20” and 19” tires on my 666M and 437M stock wheels. I gained a ton more performance, I can launch incredibly quickly, put power down coming out of corners much better than before, etc. but I also feel like a lot of the car’s ‘magic’ has been lost in this pursuit.
Before, in fully stock form, the car felt tremendously agile, front to rear grip balance seemed to be very neutral and yet easily adjustable mid-corner, the body weight felt very well controlled up until the limits of grip. Now, the suspension & tire sidewalls feel softer at the higher cornering limits, and the damping is less impressive because you end up going that bit more quickly, etc.
I’m of the opinion that sometimes the choices made during engineering of certain cars that set super, super quick laptimes are also the same things that make them a little less fun to drive when the stop watch is not involved. |
Well said! That's why pure obsession about ring time need to go, some times something good in the ring is good on the road too, but sometimes it's not.