Cal Club Autocross Forums

Don't know if you saw the first installment of Top Gear this year, but they ran an M6 aginst an Aston Martin V8 Vantage and a 911 Carrera, and guess which car didn't win? Sadly, It was your baby, the M6. The 911 (which costs a helluva lot less than the other two cars) kicked both their a$$e$. Hee hee hee ;)

Which car do you want to be in when you crash? When you want to carry your clubs out to Sherwood? When you're Kurt's size? When you don't have a clue how to drive?

Steve Ekstrand wrote:Which car do you want to be in when you crash? When you want to carry your clubs out to Sherwood? When you're Kurt's size? When you don't have a clue how to drive?

Suburban. Or possibly an Excursion.

THe TopGear show with the Tesla was interesting ... even with it's hard tires it beat the GT3's lap time.Crushed a regular Elise in the Drag Race. But it also ran out of battery juice a lot sooner then expected ... running hard race speeds. They obviously didn't have the higher performance recharge system ... since they required 16 hours for a complete recharge from flat batteries.

hmmm ... in the States you can get the 220V (60 cycle) "Quick Charge" system. In Europe they have 220V 50 cycles ... I wonder what they can do for a faster recharge?

Mako Koiwai wrote:hmmm ... in the States you can get the 220V (60 cycle) "Quick Charge" system. In Europe they have 220V 50 cycles ... I wonder what they can do for a faster recharge?

It's not the frequency, it's the Amperage that matters (watts being volts x amps and all). In the US 220V/30Amps is common, 50Amps less so. I don't know what European standards are, maybe 220V is rare in residences.

In Europe they slow the cycles down so its more likely to kill you.

Saves on their nationalized Health care expenses.

I'll take the aston if you guys don't want it, haha.

Steve Ekstrand wrote:Which car do you want to be in when you crash?

Speaking from experience...the BMW.

mlc

(Rear-ended at 40 mph. My 325 and the Camry that hit it, totalled. The two SUVs and the Scion in front of me...all damaged. Me? Not a scratch.)

Europe is 220 ...

Mako Koiwai wrote:Europe is 220 ...

England is 240V

Steve Ekstrand wrote:Which car do you want to be in when you crash? When you want to carry your clubs out to Sherwood? When you're Kurt's size? When you don't have a clue how to drive?

The M6 is a great car... For a woman to haul the kids around in.

It was also clear from one of last year's shows that Clarkson can drive the AWD Gallardo fast, but couldn't keep the GT3 pointed in the right direction. Clarkson's embarrassment was such that he didn't post The Stig's GT3 lap time. Weird, too, because ol' Jeremy didn't have any trouble with the Ascari A10.

Jason Isley BS RX8 wrote:

Steve Ekstrand wrote:Which car do you want to be in when you crash? When you want to carry your clubs out to Sherwood? When you're Kurt's size? When you don't have a clue how to drive?

The M6 is a great car... For a woman to haul the kids around in.

And that's my problem with it. It's more practical and safe than the other two cars, for sure. But practical and safe don't get me very excited. Plus, those things just have so much wasted real estate and excess poundage. Makes me wonder what kind of magic BMW would have created if it'd come in 1000 pounds lighter and 18 inches shorter. I'd rather have the M5 or M3.

Kurt Rahn wrote:

Jason Isley BS RX8 wrote:

Steve Ekstrand wrote:Which car do you want to be in when you crash? When you want to carry your clubs out to Sherwood? When you're Kurt's size? When you don't have a clue how to drive?

The M6 is a great car... For a woman to haul the kids around in.

And that's my problem with it. It's more practical and safe than the other two cars, for sure. But practical and safe don't get me very excited. Plus, those things just have so much wasted real estate and excess poundage. Makes me wonder what kind of magic BMW would have created if it'd come in 1000 pounds lighter and 18 inches shorter. I'd rather have the M5 or M3.

Nothing about the M6 feels very nimble. It has power, it can take big, high-speed sweepers at triple digits without any hiccups, but that is what makes more touring than sports car. The AWD 911 turbo feels sharper, but not in the same league as the R8.

The M6 manages to be heavy despite a carbon fiber roof panel, composite fenders, aluminum hood, aluminum engine, aluminum control arms. All of that is carried by the unit-body spawn of an armored car and a Humvee.

Bob Beamesderfer wrote: Nothing about the M6 feels very nimble. It has power, it can take big, high-speed sweepers at triple digits without any hiccups, but that is what makes more touring than sports car. The AWD 911 turbo feels sharper, but not in the same league as the R8.

The M6 manages to be heavy despite a carbon fiber roof panel, composite fenders, aluminum hood, aluminum engine, aluminum control arms. All of that is carried by the unit-body spawn of an armored car and a Humvee.

Making them heavy was the only solution the brilliant engineers at BMW could find for this problem. The armor helps if it goes all the way.

Kurt Rahn wrote:

Jason Isley BS RX8 wrote:

Steve Ekstrand wrote:Which car do you want to be in when you crash? When you want to carry your clubs out to Sherwood? When you're Kurt's size? When you don't have a clue how to drive?

The M6 is a great car... For a woman to haul the kids around in.

And that's my problem with it. It's more practical and safe than the other two cars, for sure. But practical and safe don't get me very excited. Plus, those things just have so much wasted real estate and excess poundage. Makes me wonder what kind of magic BMW would have created if it'd come in 1000 pounds lighter and 18 inches shorter. I'd rather have the M5 or M3.

It's called a Z4 M Coupe...

Toby's ... before he added back the weight ... by using thicker, stiffer springs

wow... there's some traction.

Brett King wrote:

Kurt Rahn wrote:And that's my problem with it. It's more practical and safe than the other two cars, for sure. But practical and safe don't get me very excited. Plus, those things just have so much wasted real estate and excess poundage. Makes me wonder what kind of magic BMW would have created if it'd come in 1000 pounds lighter and 18 inches shorter. I'd rather have the M5 or M3.

It's called a Z4 M Coupe...

Yeah, I was kinda thinking the same thing, but I still want all 510 hp from the M6 }:)

The 2011 M6 coupe is supposed to be amazing. Lots of rumors going around. But after driving a couple of the new M3s I don't know what would I would pick...

The M6 will always have a spot in my heart because it is the car I learned how to drive stick in.

Kurt Rahn wrote:

Brett King wrote:

Kurt Rahn wrote:And that's my problem with it. It's more practical and safe than the other two cars, for sure. But practical and safe don't get me very excited. Plus, those things just have so much wasted real estate and excess poundage. Makes me wonder what kind of magic BMW would have created if it'd come in 1000 pounds lighter and 18 inches shorter. I'd rather have the M5 or M3.

It's called a Z4 M Coupe...

Yeah, I was kinda thinking the same thing, but I still want all 510 hp from the M6 }:)

Much as I love the V-10, which despite what Hammond said, has been in the car since the 2007 model, it is surrounded by too much weight. HP to weight ratio is the key. Porsche is far more committed to that than BMW is; Audi somewhere in between.

Production cars with any kind of power under 3,500, much less 3,000 pounds, are the exception these days.

Tadd Ekstrand wrote:The 2011 M6 coupe is supposed to be amazing. Lots of rumors going around. But after driving a couple of the new M3s I don't know what would I would pick...

The M6 will always have a spot in my heart because it is the car I learned how to drive stick in.

Consider yourself lucky. I learned on a 4-speed on the tree Opel. Not that exciting. :unimpressed:

Kurt Rahn wrote: Yeah, I was kinda thinking the same thing, but I still want all 510 hp from the M6 }:)

Well, There IS a 500 HP supercharger that a company called ESS makes for my car.... That could be fun !

Let's see... 3100 lbs / 500 hp... 6.2 power to weight... Not so bad.

It's not as good as that Lotus ( can't remember his name ) tho at 1500 lbs / 500 hp. THAT is insane...

Tadd Ekstrand wrote:The M6 will always have a spot in my heart because it is the car I learned how to drive stick in.

What year?

Bob Beamesderfer wrote:

Tadd Ekstrand wrote:The 2011 M6 coupe is supposed to be amazing. Lots of rumors going around. But after driving a couple of the new M3s I don't know what would I would pick...

The M6 will always have a spot in my heart because it is the car I learned how to drive stick in.

Consider yourself lucky. I learned on a 4-speed on the tree Opel. Not that exciting. :unimpressed:

1971 BMW 2002