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      10-05-2021, 01:29 PM   #33
m.dreamin
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Drives: 2022 M4 Competition xDrive
Join Date: Aug 2021
Location: San Francisco

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Great thread and indeed, I expected to see a lot more videos/commentary when xDrive models were delivered. I'll share my thoughts (I have a G82 but close enough to your thread's title. )

I was immensely excited when the new body style debuted and the fact that xDrive was an option made it even more compelling. I sent my order code to my service advisor in January and expressed my desire to be first in line once allocation began. He immediately notified me once they got allocation and my order was slated for production July 12th. The wait was....painful. (I tracked it across the Atlantic and even captured the ship going through the Panama Canal via their web cams.) Finally took delivery end of August.

I mention this because I sometimes questioned whether I should just ditch the wait and get a RWD model, but the wait was so worth it. Previously I owned an F82 and loved it but always felt the power was just too much for two wheels. Given the G82 is probably 80-100+ horsepower (my F82 was non-Competition model), AWD was a must. And I can REALLY tell the difference.

Last weekend a buddy and I took our cars out for some fun on twisty roads. (He has a Nismo Z.) In the past, my F82 was fast and agile, but on drives like we did there were occasional moments where I thought I felt understeer, and many moments where I was on the gas on roads that weren't perfect and I'd get the traction control light blinking on/off while the motor was simultaneously losing power momentarily or at least the power was tempered. When the rear grabbed the asphalt again, I could feel the power brought back in full and the car would toss me further back in my seat. (I usually drive with all the traction control on along with the nannies. I'm wanting spirited driving but not the risk of crashing my beloved/expensive machine.)

Enter the G82 with xDrive. I'm hesitant to use launch control because it's hard on the engine/drivetrain (or so the manual suggests), but I did a somewhat "launch control" at a metering light when getting onto the freeway. Full auto mode with Sport Plus exhaust/throttle, transmission at the 2nd level (one lower than the most aggressive setting), and normal/default AWD mode. I can't recall what happened in great detail... because it all happened so damn fast! Vastly different and improved from the F82. It hooked up, threw me deep into my seat, and screamed through the first two gears like a race car trying to murder me with noise and acceleration. When I let off the gas, I was at freeway speed, and whether it was 3 or 3.5 seconds after starting, it was just amazing.

Later came the twisty roads. My buddy's Nismo is fast and can handle corners like a go-cart. In my F82 I aimed to stay close, but often back off a bit because I kept hitting some of what I wrote above about driving feel, and also because I just get a little scared of hitting the car's limit. With the G82 last weekend, it was honestly kind of effortless to keep up. The damn thing accelerates like the F82 could never do around corners, up hills, or on poor pavement. It hooks into the road and the more you press the gas the more it pulls the earth to you even faster. And with the newer chassis and the huge 275 tires in the front, turning seems to not have a limit that I intend on finding. Take a corner fast, and it's planted. Press the gas more and turn the wheel in further, and the car yawns at you because you're still not really pushing it. I'm personally not interested in the extreme limit of what this thing can do on a public road because it's just that fast and agile. It's plenty capable enough for my taste and I'm sure with an M Track Day lesson or two I could really unlock everything, but if I never do that I'll still be satiated with what this extraordinary machine can do.

As a bonus, when I pass my buddy or if he's behind me while we're flying around twisties, he reports that the car sounds more exotic than the F82.

Beyond the acceleration and cornering capabilities, the rest of the car is such an upgrade across every part of the driving experience. Others on the forum have stated the Harmon Kardon sound system isn't great, but to my semi-audiophile ears, it's a punchier, more enveloping sound than my F82. I've re-listened to old songs just to hear them on the new system. I also have the carbon bucket seats and full Silverstone white leather in the cabin, which looks magnificent. And the all digital instrument cluster is what I've wanted for a long time. All in all this machine is a lovely beast.
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