All steptronic owners say it is boring . Not me .

 

I was only kidding. You just seem to have a problem that any car other than yours is rubbish, and everybody made a mistake buy buying a BMW that isn't the same as your spec. Just a couple of days ago you were laying in to somebody with a 650i saying it was "slow and heavy" and they should have got an M6. Grow up mate !!

 

Diesel is more and more popular in my country these days.
The mag editors did a great job to put them in comparison for increasing buyers to know.
First , we have 99.9% auto transmission market with only few manual box users.

To cut tons of reports short
C220 CDI vs C200K
520d vs 523i
A6 3.0 TDI vs A6 3.2
S80 D5 vs S80 T5
E320 CDI vs E280
All test data shows diesel is quicker all the way to quarter mile (0~400m) , how much quicker ? about 1 full second.
Diesel with less power but larger TQ beat their petrol brothers.

Timed my remapped LCI 535d , 5.5s to 100 Km/hr , almost 1s quicker than a 530i auto test here.
Mag reports 5.9s to finish 62mph on a stock LCI 535d as I post early in this forum.

Again, how soon will a petrol win back on a drag race ?
Probably right after the quarter mile or longer if they're entry level 2.0L based.

One thing for sure, if I drag race a sedan for living , said, 0~1 mile, I'll pick up a petrol

 

Eh no, I said *cabrio* 650i is heavy (and it's true, 200 Kg more than the coup?) and 'they should have got the _coup?_' .

 

Ehm ... no: diesels are often faster than the petrol concurrents because of shorter gears . For sure not for the engine .
On a diesel you can put shorter gears why a) the consumption is still good b) they have to sell diesels so when you test it you have to remain impressed .


It's remapped, so heavily tuned .

 

I did not write or copy that whole thing down-I cut and pasted it off the interenet in some other forum-I think it was on a VW forum or something-the guy explained it better than I ever could because he had the knowledge of the formulas which I dont.

Another cool concept I came across the calculation for thrust-which is essential torque at the wheels.

Whenever people talk about torque lets say 300 foot pounds-that is what the engine is making.

You put that on a big truck with 2:1 gear ratio-you got some major pulling power. You put it on a bimmer with 14:1 gear ratio you got a rocket. Anywhere in between you have a variation of each. So gearing is reall bigger than people think.

People always talk about how manuals are faster than autos and that they have less drivetrain loss-but MOST times car makers pretty much make a 15 percent shorter gear ratio in the auto to make up for this and usually they run similar times. Any variation in times is because manuals can essentially shift gears faster than most autoboxes but it is not the 15 percent drive train loss that causes slower times in autos usually posted if they are different.

There are also so many factors involved such as shape of torque curves and tire sizing and just a whle slew of factors.

The point of this thead ws not tosay who is superior-they dont have 535ds here. It does answer my question to say the 535i is a heck of a lot faster than a 535d and the 530i is more on par with the 535d than most probably think just because it is 35v. 30.

What I learned atleast is the usefulness of thrust which is Thrust equals Engine Torque times final gear ratio (which I dont remember whatunits they use)-thrust gives you power at the WHEELs and not at the engine. Listed torque or even dyno torque at the wheel does not account for gearing so litereally tells you nothing about how fast a car accelerates.

So from now on when you talk about torque in a car I think its mandatory to include the gearing on your car, rolling radius and rev limits.

People always talk about the M5 as having low torque-who cares when you rev to 8500-

torque imo is overestimated as being important if you dont look at all the other factors that translate into flat out straight line speed.

Another misconception that I hear al the time is "torque gets you there, hp keeps you there" that is just way off idea about hp.

Torque is how much you get pinned in your seat. Hp is how long you get pinned in your seat

 

The fact is you have to pass through 3000, 4000, 5000 rpm to reach 8500 .
On the track, instead, you use only 6000-8500 rpm and there isn't the low torque problem .

 

wow a certainly heated debate here!!

i have to say the 535d will be outright chioce for sure, however, theres the potential for supercharger etc on petrol models

535d=

 

Funny how many people who have probably never driven the 535d want to comment on it.
It's like a virgin trying to convince you that masturbation is better than sex

 

+1

Maybe some people here simply don't have the experience to comment.

Comparing petrol and diesel is more than just figures too.

My 525d (197 bhp) is a a whole lot more relaxing to drive briskly than my old 328iSE (193 bhp) was, despite being very similar performers.

I would also add that the worst everyday car I have driven was a Honda S2000 which revs to the heavens and is pretty quick to boot.

So don't forget the driving experience gents.

Try it, you might like it!