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      08-07-2013, 01:48 PM   #91
norsairius
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Originally Posted by MY13E92M3 View Post
I'm not surprised at all with the number of concerns regarding this, "highly anticipated," super car from BMW. It's not complaining, but rather disappointment.

We need to follow this thread to see what changes (if any,) will be made and to monitor the development of the car.

Yes, the skinny tires help reduce the drag coefficient, but it does affect performance in EVERY aspect. Put some 328i tires (225/50-17) on a M3 (265/35-19) and take it around the track.

All this technology to make this car lighter has gotten it 100-200lbs less than an E92? Common, that's nearly M3 weight, once you sit in it.

I agree with one thing, "This car isn't the answer, but it's the next step so we can use a finite resource more efficiently. BMW is thankfully showing us how we can use this diminishing resource and still have FUN (unlike the Prius)."

As an enthusiast, I think this will be something interesting to follow.
You make good points. I think this car was meant more to be an engineering exercise than more of a pure performance car as some may argue the M-series (except maybe the X5 and X6) are intended to be. My belief is that this car was meant to show that you can have efficient, modern hybrid technology in a car that is still fun to drive. Most owners unfortunately will not take this car to a track. If they do and want to push this car to 10/10ths, they can fit fatter tires on it. From the factory, BMW is bound to put skinnier tires so that it can get better efficiency in everyday usage.

As for the point on weight, I still believe it's very impressive. A lot of cars are coming out at 3400-3500+ lbs with gasoline engines and fuel for ONE engine. A lot of exotic materials and engineering to be "only" 100-200 lbs less than an E92 is not something to be shrugged off. Again, this car has TWO motors for propulsion and the means to carry the "fuel" for both (fuel in quotes because one of the fuel sources is technically electricity for the electric motor). Batteries aren't light. The Tesla Model S is proof of that (curb weight ~4650 lbs). It might perform well, but that weight doesn't go by unnoticed.

This car has the means to have weight around what you'd expect from most other cars on the road today while delivering a lot more efficiency and while being fun (I haven't driven the car, the "fun" bit is an assumption). All of this is simply something we don't have today, at least not that I can think of: a car that is about average weight, if not maybe a bit below, with a highly efficient propulsion system that is more efficient than other existing solutions out on the roads today, AND fun to drive. Other cars seem to sacrifice performance in favor of efficiency. Or if you want performance, you sacrifice efficiency. I simply can't think of another fun hybrid car on the road today. This car gets us both without costing well over half a million dollars.

I think the key thing is that it all depends on how you define a supercar. A supercar should be fast, sure, but I think the engineering and technology are the main focus of this car more so than its actual performance numbers (which are still respectable). The technology and what it's achieved make it a supercar if you ask me. The numbers only tell one story.
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