BMW Smoked me!
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 57
Likes: 0
BMW Smoked me!
Was behind a BMS 5 series at the lights - they go green and he's off slowly at first. I'm behind him doing around 60kms. He then floors it, and like he's about to lift off to the moon. This thing just accelerates like crazy. I floor my car, and it drops down one gear (from fourth at around 1600RPM I think) to around 2100 RPM and start accelerating. However, the BMW had disappeared by then.
Boy, that was bad!
Question: If you are in third/fourth gear at relatively low speed and you floor the pedal, shouldn't the car jump in to 1st or something to give you that required acceleration?
Is a Beemer's acceleration faster then a Corvette's? Or do I have a really badly performing car? (BTW - I have a 88 coupe).
Thx!
Al.
Boy, that was bad!
Question: If you are in third/fourth gear at relatively low speed and you floor the pedal, shouldn't the car jump in to 1st or something to give you that required acceleration?
Is a Beemer's acceleration faster then a Corvette's? Or do I have a really badly performing car? (BTW - I have a 88 coupe).
Thx!
Al.
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 3,570
Likes: 3
From: Austin, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Houston, Dallas, Hong Kong, Elgin, etc.. Texas
Re: BMW Smoked me! (Aman)
The new M5 BMW is an awesome car. It turns low 13's in the 1/4 mile, if I recall correctly.
Not too many of them around, however, due to limited product and cost--about $75,000! I believe the dealers were getting sticker+++
Not too many of them around, however, due to limited product and cost--about $75,000! I believe the dealers were getting sticker+++
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 57
Likes: 0
Re: BMW Smoked me! (qkvette)
I'm thinking about the mods, and my interest will grow as soon as my funds do :) .
My question about the gears shifting down remains - what is a Corvette normally supposed to do? I don't like using the auto shifter down to 1st/2nd. I thought pressing the accelerator all the way was supposed to take care of that?
Thx.
Al.
My question about the gears shifting down remains - what is a Corvette normally supposed to do? I don't like using the auto shifter down to 1st/2nd. I thought pressing the accelerator all the way was supposed to take care of that?
Thx.
Al.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Cruising
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
From: Garden Grove CA
Re: BMW Smoked me! (Aman)
A 540 should not have beaten you so badly. True they have some more horsepower (282) but weigh nearly 4000lbs. The 6 speed version (pretty rare) is in the high 5 second range to 60mph while autos are over 6. Your car should be as fast if not faster then the stick shift car so something is amiss here unles it was an M5 which would certainly pull away from you like you described...then again I've yet to see one of those on the road.
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 3,570
Likes: 3
From: Austin, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Houston, Dallas, Hong Kong, Elgin, etc.. Texas
Re: BMW Smoked me! (LTDan73)
There is a new M5 parked right outside my window at work about 30 feet way. I have not raced the guy yet, but if I do, I won't give him a head start.
The new M5's have about 400 hp I recall.
The new M5's have about 400 hp I recall.
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 1,875
Likes: 27
From: Long Beach NY
Re: BMW Smoked me! (AS84)
As I understand it the BMW M5 has a weak clutch (9.5"). Trick is to get him to give you some repeat runs, as his clutch starts to burn you get him.
Actually there is a guy near me with one, great, fast, good looking car. He said he had it up to 160mph a couple of Sundays ago. He is on his second clutch at about 9k miles if I recall, and this one is TOAST.
Barrier :D :D :D
Actually there is a guy near me with one, great, fast, good looking car. He said he had it up to 160mph a couple of Sundays ago. He is on his second clutch at about 9k miles if I recall, and this one is TOAST.
Barrier :D :D :D
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 90,675
Likes: 304
From: SE NY
Cruise-In II Veteran
Re: BMW Smoked me! (Aman)
That's right, if you launched in D or OD, it depends on your speed and a little on tranny setup what gear it will down shift into. If you plan to play in traffic with the big boys mod your shifter like I did so that you can manually select the correct gear. Of course if you do some mods to get up to around 300hp at the crank would help too.
If I wanted to play with a car like that I'd leave the light in 1st gear and be ready to nail it if he tryed to pulled on me. Then at about 5k rpm I'd shift into 2nd, etc.
Your stock shifter has no shift feel in the 1st 3 gears but try this technique a time or two anyway. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the effect.
If I wanted to play with a car like that I'd leave the light in 1st gear and be ready to nail it if he tryed to pulled on me. Then at about 5k rpm I'd shift into 2nd, etc.
Your stock shifter has no shift feel in the 1st 3 gears but try this technique a time or two anyway. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the effect.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 2,413
Likes: 0
Cruise-In II Veteran
Cruise-In III Veteran
Cruise-In IV Veteran
Re: BMW Smoked me! (65Z01)
Your stock shifter has no shift feel in the 1st 3 gears but try this technique a time or two anyway. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the effect.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 9,713
Likes: 3
From: Sachse Texas
Cruise-In I Veteran
Cruise-In II Veteran
Re: BMW Smoked me! (stormy652)
There is only bout 12 years worth of technology that he has on you...with an auto it could have just not kicked down in your favor.
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 57
Likes: 0
Re: BMW Smoked me! (65Z01)
Funny thing is that if I use the shifter to select 1st or 2nd gear, I'm not sure which one it has actually selected. The shifter needle doesn't come all the way down to 1st and kind of hovers in between 1st and 2nd. I can select 2nd for sure as the needle points to it accurately.
Anyway - thanks for all the input - guess I'll now be more picky as to who to try and follow.
Al.
Anyway - thanks for all the input - guess I'll now be more picky as to who to try and follow.
Al.
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 90,675
Likes: 304
From: SE NY
Cruise-In II Veteran
Re: BMW Smoked me! (Aman)
Aman, that's the way my shifter used to function. So I bought a used shifter and did the mods to it with a Dremel to provide positive shift feel.
Try repositioning your shifter boot to allow you to manually shift into 1st gear. You'll know when you have it because when your speedo reads about 35mph your tach will show about 3,700rpm. If it's only in 2nd gear it will upshift into second gear by that speed at part throttle.
Try repositioning your shifter boot to allow you to manually shift into 1st gear. You'll know when you have it because when your speedo reads about 35mph your tach will show about 3,700rpm. If it's only in 2nd gear it will upshift into second gear by that speed at part throttle.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
Likes: 192
From: At the beach in little Rhody
Re: BMW Smoked me! (Aman)
Couple of thoughts. First, even if not an M5 but just an M series, these cars are very nimble. If he had a running start, then you need a LOT of HP to play catch up irregardless. If your car didn't downshift, I would verify the TV cable is correctly adjusted and that your throttle body is actually opening all the way when the pedal goes to the floor.