[ks]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

Hi guys, I was fortunate enough to attend the track event yesterday too. I am currently running an 18 F80 6MT ZCP and would describe myself as an intermediate track driver. I would share some of my thoughts:

Answering the question on understeer/oversteer, they're all designed to understeer unless you switch all driving aids off (not allowed on that event of course!)

My impression from 4 laps:

Handling - improvement from F80 in every single way. You can carry so much more speed through the corner, higher lateral grip, entry is a lot tidier, exit speed is quicker, zero lag, high speed stability is a lot better. It is a very composed car, will definitely demolish the track times of F80.

Steering - mild improvement. Better feedback. Less of the "numbness" associated with F80.

Brakes - much better again. We drove cars with the steel brakes.

Carbon seats - must have if you track the car. Comfortable, so much support. Could be hard to get in and out (either move the seat of steering wheel or move the steering wheel but could be annoying on a daily basis)

Subjective impression of weight - the car hides it weight well. It only felt marginally heavier. I was surprised with it. Not going to be an issue.

Cons:

Exhaust - I have yet to make up my mind if the note is better. It is certainly different but I am one of the rare people who actually like the way the S55 sounds. The cars we drove had approx 2300 km on so they've just been broken in and it is too early to judge the exhaust sound level. It was certainly quieter compared to my car (all stock)

Sound insulation - G80 is just so much better insulated. That's probably one of the biggest difference. Less NVH. Good for the 'luxury market' but not so good if driver involvement if what you're after. It also concealed speed. Car generally feels 'slower' but actual speeds aren't!

That's just a quick summary of my impression. I'm only a hobbyist car enthusiast and not a pro so please take my opinion with a grain of salt!

Some photos from the event

[solstice]

That is a very promising review confirming my expectations. How does the power band compare to the F80? Does it feel narrower with the lower redline or does it build faster and higher to make it feel similar? Does it feel stronger at the top end vs the S55? I’m not going to shove a graph in your face to argue I’m just interested in the actual experience behind the wheel.

[Game]

Did you drive only automatics like OP? How'd you like the transmission?

[ks]

Originally Posted by solstice

That is a very promising review confirming my expectations. How does the power band compare to the F80? Does it feel narrower with the lower redline or does it build faster and higher to make it feel similar? Does it feel stronger at the top end vs the S55? I'm not going to shove a graph in your face to argue I'm just interested in the actual experience behind the wheel.

Very linear. Difficult to comment on intricacies because of the limited number of laps and we weren't allowed to push it super hard. Certainly didn't get the chance to go close to redline.

[ks]

Originally Posted by Game

Did you drive only automatics like OP? How'd you like the transmission?

Yes, automatics only for the day. No issue with shift speed.

However, it doesn't feel like DCT. Someone with an M5 will be able to comment better. My other car is a 140i with ZF but that is unfair comparison, day and night difference.

How do i like it? I am manual driver for life

[spuntyb]

Nice. Sounds like that wider front track is doing it's job with this chassis.

[Studntloan]

Great to hear! excited to get behind the wheel of one of these.

[GOLFFRR]

thanks for taking the time to post this up!

[ks]

Originally Posted by spuntyb

Nice. Sounds like that wider front track is doing it's job with this chassis.

Correct. Plus the added 10mm tyre width. Front end grip in incredible really.

[ks]

Some photos from the event

[EXE46]

Glad the false notions about this new iteration not being superior in driving dynamics to that of the F80 being refuted.

[antzcrashing]

Originally Posted by ks

Yes, automatics only for the day. No issue with shift speed.

However, it doesn't feel like DCT. Someone with an M5 will be able to comment better. My other car is a 140i with ZF but that is unfair comparison, day and night difference.

How do i like it? I am manual driver for life

Be sure to comment back here when you are to drive G80 6MT as well, if/when you get to

[Bumpinjeep]

Originally Posted by ks

Very linear. Difficult to comment on intricacies because of the limited number of laps and we weren't allowed to push it super hard. Certainly didn't get the chance to go close to redline.

Hey OP, you mentioned that you track your F80 regularly and that you had this car felt faster than the F80, but you also mentioned that you couldn't push the cars either.
Do you mind clarifying that? So does the G80 feel faster than the F80 at 5/10s or 7/10s?
I'm wondering about the brakes too, since the fronts are a good size but the rears are almost nonexistent, would they hold up if you were pushing the car on a 30 minute HPDE session?

Thanks for providing some real world feedback.

[solstice]

Originally Posted by ks

Correct. Plus the added 10mm tyre width. Front end grip in incredible really.

This is the main comment that we have been hearing from BMW engineers, managers and those few lucky enough to drive the car on a track throughout this wait. It really must be a standout.

It’s very, very exciting indeed and what might make me hold off an imminent order of another brand of car, that + AWD and the improved NVH. I’d love to get my hands on one of these today, lucky you!

[M4KO]

[TEGRITY]

I am booked in for April, can't wait!!

Thanks for sharing!

[pcai]

Originally Posted by ks

Yes, automatics only for the day. No issue with shift speed.

However, it doesn't feel like DCT. Someone with an M5 will be able to comment better. My other car is a 140i with ZF but that is unfair comparison, day and night difference.

How do i like it? I am manual driver for life

The auto they put in new M cars are solid. When you're on throttle, upshifts are very crisp. The box fires out the upshifts quite literally (if you have a non-EU spec exhaust) and it will never upshift automatically at redline in manual mode. There's minimal delay in shifting period. Not once have I wished that the gearbox would respond quicker when I'm driving my car. Be wary that launch control shifts are limited to ~100 launches over the entire lifespan of the gearbox.

[AndroidRobot]

Originally Posted by pcai

The auto they put in new M cars are solid. When you're on throttle, upshifts are very crisp. The box fires out the upshifts quite literally (if you have a non-EU spec exhaust) and it will never upshift automatically at redline in manual mode. There's minimal delay in shifting period. Not once have I wished that the gearbox would respond quicker when I'm driving my car. Be wary that launch control shifts are limited to ~100 launches over the entire lifespan of the gearbox.

I thought that was only an issue with the M5? I wonder if you can launch it with DSC off without worrying about that limit becuase in my experience you launch better that way.

[pcai]

Originally Posted by AndroidRobot

I thought that was only an issue with the M5? I wonder if you can launch it with DSC off without worrying about that limit becuase in my experience you launch better that way.

What do you mean? The 8 speed auto box that's going in the G8X will be fundamentally the same ones from the M5/M8/X5M/X6M etc. And from the LC limit thread on the F90 forum we already have M8 owners running into the same LC limit. So why would this just be a M5 issue? And you need to have DSC off to activate launch control anyways. The car will automatically short shift if it feels that it doesn't have enough traction.
Basically, the launch control shifts are different from the normal shifts (S1-S3). LC shifts aren't crisp (no exhaust crackle on the upshift, and instead the gearbox tries to "blend" the gears together and you feel the gearbox "slingshot" you forward with every gear change). After the ~100 LC limit, the gearbox will intentionally stop this shifting strategy in order to "preserve" its lifespan and during LC you will get the normal S3 shifts from that point onwards. The controversy exists because BMW does not explicitly state this limit even though it exists.

https://f90.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1798332

Don't know if the DCT in the F8X has a similar LC limit. If it doesn't, then that would be probably one of the only big areas where the DCT is better than the auto.

[joooiiiiii]

Thanks for posting up the review. I'm happy to see that the weight issue wasn't as significant as people thought it would be.

[Nahlem]

Nice to see more and more people getting their hands on the G80 for testing, gonna be nice to se more reviews especially when we also get some of the professional drivers to test it lets hope they get to push the car over the red line.

I believe M have done a great work on this i hope when we get the i4M that M will give it the same proper M treatment for maximum driving pleasure

[Rupes]

Originally Posted by EXE46

Glad the false notions about this new iteration not being superior in driving dynamics to that of the F80 being refuted.

Pretty sure the notions have been more around the design and less about the performance.

M's always perform better each year - that is rarely disputed.