Quote:
Originally Posted by upsidedownfunnel
I drive a manual transmission and I drive it smoothly when I'm warming the car up or when I have my kid in the car. I think many people as they get older appreciate the occasional soft shifting action of a conventional automatic. The ZF 8HP in my wife's car can shift just as hard as a manual. It really bangs out the shifts in Sport+ and Sport shifting mode.
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I agree with what you say, but I still think M3 is a wrong car for such.
M3 started out as a homologation race car, and I would like to believe BMW will keep true to its roots. I think they do to some extent looking at M850i launch; they clearly understand general customers are more likely to buy M850i over a full fledged M8, which also started its life as a GT series race car and will translate some of that to its road car.
Besides, cooling a heavy rotating inertia of Zfat is a big problem on track; virtually every M235i I know runs big ass aftermarket coolers to compensate. It sucks when you are on the track/gymkhana in M3 and then Zfat refuses to downshift. I've seen M140i drivers rage because of it on tight circuits after a session or two; IIRC it isn't an issue with DCT. Also, DCT doesn't go flatbed after 7,500 rpm unlike Zfat that hates high rpm.
Then again, more than 70% M drivers who go to track in Japan use 6MT because of simplicity(no need to worry about overheating) and "ultimate driving" experience. Contrary to most beliefs, BMW's twin plate clutch manual transmission is very robust and refined compared to any aftermarket heavy duty multi clutch system that either makes clutch too heavy or clunky at low rpm. On E92 M3, 6MT would actually pull on DCT after 5th gear because it stays longer on the high revs. The surreal experience when you shift at 8400 rpm in 5th going 280+kph to start over at 7200 rpm in 6th is the reason why I think 90s to mid 2000s were BMW's heydays.