finding the signal in an industry filled with noise
Order the 22-inch tires if you must have the look, but we advise against them. They ride harsher than the less sporty choices, they’re noisy, and their quick-responding nature fights with the steering feel on gusty days, taking you down a ziggy path. – Car and Driver
UPDATE: Click here to download a short clip taken during the my drive…
Original post [08.28.06]: Acura recently decided to drop the RSX from their U.S. lineup, feeling it was too unrefined and raucous to be sold next to cars like the RL and MDX. So it surprised me today that I was relieved to return the keys to the RDX because it felt – well – unrefined.
Let me back up by saying this was a car I expected to love. On paper it has one of the world’s most advanced all wheel drive systems, a suspension based on the new Civic’s (a good thing) and loads of torque without resorting to a heavy V6. It has the industry’s best nav system with real time traffic data. It was benchmarked against BMW’s X3. I was sure I’d love it.
But I didn’t, and neither did the potential buyer I accompanied. And here’s why… Read the rest of this entry »
People tend to overcomplicate cars – in the end most of what’s true is true because you can’t break the laws of physics.
Case in point: BMW and Subaru SUVs handle better because the engineers insist on a low engine placement (the Porsche Cayenne has a high mounted engine so has to resort to a complicated suspension to regain lost ground). And the Jaguar XK rides handles and accelerates better than competitors because it is 400 lbs lighter than the Mercedes SL 550 and 500 lbs lighter than BMW 6-Series.
Maybe marketers and designers should be required to take high school physics.
Remember when BMW’s handled AND rode well?
That was before the stylists insisted the wheels had to be enormous to look proportional to the car.
The result:
The Z4 coupe, as with the roadster, can be a chore to commute in, however, owing to heavy steering and a twitchy tendency to be pulled around by pavement troughs and seams. The suspension is downright nervous on imperfect surfaces (and where are they perfect besides Germany?), requiring constant correction and allowing little relaxation. – Car and Driver
muscular once on boost but soft-edged when accelerating from low speeds… despite its twin-scroll turbocharger, designed to reduce turbo lag by separating the exhaust pulses of cylinders one and four from those of two and three, so they don’t interfere with each other and reduce the energy available to drive the turbocharger. – 4Car
Let’s cut to the chase – what distinguishes ‘real’ driver’s cars from grocery getters boils down to where the engine is placed and where the torque is sent (the closer to the center and the more to the rear respectively, the more agile the final product).
The Mercedes A class was ingenious in its placing the engine below the floor but the more you loaded it up the more likely it was to go belly up. Later cars were stiffenened to the point that they rode like sports cars but didn’t handle all that much better.
The Smart conversely showed the world the minimal power – when combined with minimal weight – could be maximal fun. In fact Gordon Murray, designed of the vaunted McLaren F1, loves the ForTwo, especially in Brabus form, where the front tires are widened and the torque curve is fattened.
All that said, I’d like to see efficient cars of the future to follow a mid or rear engine, rear drive or rear biased all wheel drive layout similar to the Mitsubishi i. With the advent of ESP and traction control there’s really no point in front engined, front drive cars (that is unless you’re a carmarker – they love the design because it reduces assembly time and maximizes profits).
Keep your right foot buried, though, and things start to go awry as the big Chrysler bounces from hump to bump, its tall 225/60/18 Pirelli P7s contributing to the impression that ride control is care of a space-hopper at each corner. Numb steering doesn’t improve the experience. – evo
(Click here).
Commentary: Sure its long on value, but like too many modern Nissans and Infinitis it’s short on refinement – you can tell it was pulled from the developmental oven too early.
You get what you pay for…
There’s a reason Paul Horrell is one of the few automotive journalists I respect – quite simply he seems to step back from the hype and take a deep breath before he types.
Click here for his take on the 335i. I highly suggest you read it from start to finish, but if you turn to this blog because you like to be in the know without a lot of effort, here’s an excerpt:
toning down the more confrontational surfaces doesn’t seem to have brought any special beauty. Instead it leans to the bland. If you were shown the side profile (maybe with the characteristic ‘Hofmeister kink’ – the angled portion to the inside edge of each C-pillar – blacked out) and told it was a new Honda Accord coupe, you’d not be so surprised…. there’s some shunt in the driveline, and the six-speed manual transmission is on the clunky side. BMW used to be good at this… the huge torque makes it easy to spin the inside rear wheel coming out of tight bends. Habitual drifters would want a limited-slip diff, but it’s unavailable. Oh, and does the ride have to be so hard? ...There’s something slightly haughty and offhand and reserved about this thing. Too perfect, too literal, too passionless… BMW has bust a gut to build a brilliant 300bhp-plus two-door sporting coupe and I can’t quite fall in love with it.
UPDATE: while the performance is far more usable than an M3’s, the flat torque curve, the direct-injection clatter and the lack of athleticism over the last 1000rpm mean it’s nowhere near as exciting. – CAR
[Dyno testing shows that] this engine is likely putting out closer to 350 hp and 360 lb-ft of torque... in an all-out drag race, the 335i comes close, but can’t quite match the M3’s blistering acceleration… But at moderate engine speeds, it’s even faster. – Automobile