Quote:
Originally Posted by NightWriter
Fair points, but just FYI that the 3.3lb difference in that screenshot is misleading since it's comparing the CF roof to a solid steel roof (no sunroof). With the sunroof, it's actually a 50lb difference.
Is anyone likely to feel that difference? Probably not (unless you're Randy Pobst wringing it out on Laguna Seca), but just knowing that it's lighter -- and lowering the CoG -- can be one of those intangible benefits that impart confidence (and/or insufferable hubris) to owners. |
Having done my first track day ever
weeks ago at Laguna Seca (thanks again to
Sunwise Auto Group!), those lighter M cars didn't seem to have an edge against my heavier moonroof + xDrive M4. When I finally left Beginner group (5 sessions) and moved to Intermediate late in the afternoon, I was waived on to pass lots of M3/4/5's, many of which were modified. The driver that gave me the best run for my money, for whom I ultimately waived on to pass, had been running his GTR in Intermediate class the entire day. I was proud when he approached me after the session and said that despite passing me, I was still behind him so closely to make him push harder.
None of this is to say I'm Mr Kickass track day driver, because I'm not. I bring this up to point out that on a track day reserved for Sunwise Auto Group, for which the 50-60 cars were 90% (+/-) M cars, many of which were modded, it was remarkable how much a relative n00b like me could advance further and further.
To be sure, a lot of this speaks to the new G8x platform. My F82 never inspired the kind of confidence I now have with the new machine, and xDrive was huge in allowing me to pull hard out of corners like I never would have before. So to me, the relevance to this thread (and forum at large) is that the theoretical weight gains/losses and COG gains/losses due to xDrive and moonroofs just don't seem to hold much water even despite the fact that most everyone was an M car driver. Of course, take me as a sample size of 1.