[DeTomaso] NPC: automotive journalism and manual transmissions
Sean Korb
spkorb at gmail.com
Mon Feb 24 20:52:35 EST 2014
Honestly, for a commuter pod 130HP is maximum. Gas mileage becomes
more important than looks or handing if you have 20+ miles to go.
That's why I (I can't believe I'm saying this) drive a Civic. Sure
it's 20 years old and it's a (ooo! Ahhh!) a Del Sol; but it's an
appliance. Even a 3.0L 1 series seems like overkill (though really
nice overkill).
sean
On Mon, Feb 24, 2014 at 8:44 PM, Garth Rodericks
<garth_rodericks at yahoo.com> wrote:
> True! The 3 series was just supposed to be a commuter pod. But I like
> that 5.0 conversion - shoulda kept my E36.
> __________________________________________________________________
>
> From: Rob Dumoulin <rob at dumoulins.net>
> To: Garth Rodericks <garth_rodericks at yahoo.com>
> Cc: DeTomaso Mail List <detomaso at poca.com>; "coxmichaelt at gmail.com"
> <coxmichaelt at gmail.com>
> Sent: Monday, February 24, 2014 4:41 PM
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] NPC: automotive journalism and manual
> transmissions
> Garth, I can say this because I am a 25-year (3 and 7 series) BMW
> lover.
> I agree with the auto comparison, but have to chime in that the fact
> that even if you have a turbo 6 cylinder, you have a dog by this
> forum's comparison. I looked at one as another project car and came to
> the conclusion that the only way I would buy a 328 is if I did this to
> it:
> [1]http://www.e36v8.com/
> Just sayin :)
> Rob DuMoulin
> 904.476.8744
> [2]rob at dumoulins.net
> [3]www.kbsi.co
> [4]http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rob-dumoulin/0/1b6/58
> On Mon, Feb 24, 2014 at 6:41 PM, Garth Rodericks
> <[5]garth_rodericks at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> That BMW auto might have felt nice on a test drive, but having
> purchased a 2011 328i with the auto (a concession to the wife), I
> can
> tell you for a fact it SUCKS!!!! I'm really sorry I bought this
> car!
> I loved my 5-speed 328i that preceeded this one. But the 2011
> has not
> lived up to any of my expectations. It's a beautiful car,
> handles
> great, and stops on a dime. But, it is not a pleasure to drive!
> The
> throttle response delay in the drive by wire system is
> unacceptable and
> actually makes the car dangerous - you step on the gas to take
> off from
> a stop and nothing happens so you keep pushing the gas further,
> then
> the engine suddenly responds and the car lurches off the line -
> as my
> wife puts it, it's very "jerky" to drive. And the automatic
> transmission holds every gear several seconds too long,
> regardless of
> whether you're pressing the gas down to accelerate hard or just
> cruising at 30mph, or your in 'standard' or 'sport' mode! And,
> in
> 'sport' mode, the throttle input rate is different - the same
> throttle
> input should yield the same rpm from the engine, regardless of
> whether
> in 'standard' or 'sport' mode! Another dangerous situation as
> when it
> sport mode, applying a modest amount of gas causes the engine to
> respond like you've floored the accelerator - firmware updates
> have
> abated some of this issue, but not all of it.
> Anyway, there's nothing the dealer can or will do about it. It's
> not
> throwing any error codes, so there's nothing they can fix. And
> they
> won't replace the transmission as "it's the number one complaint
> received about the cars," and they can't do any ECU tuning to
> correct
> these issues either. The newer 328's and 335's now have a
> different
> transmission which doesn't seem to exhibit these issues on the
> loaner
> cars the dealer gives me when I take mine in. Sure wish I
> purchased the
> standard transmission!
> This is my 2nd and likely LAST BMW. And hopefully I won't own it
> much
> longer. Maybe it's time to find a nice used E46 M3, as I'll
> never by
> another new one.
> -Garth
> --- Original Message ---
> When I bought my 6 speed 2011 335is the dealer only had the
> dual-clutch auto on the lot for a test drive. It was actually very
> nice,
> I can see my next sporty-ish car having something like that and
> being perfectly happy.
> Since I buy new vehicles every 15 years or so, I've got time to see
> how it shakes out.
> I was bummed when Dan Neil's writing was not available in the
> LA Times any more, I do occasionally hunt out his stuff for a
> good read.
> --mike
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> References
>
> 1. http://www.e36v8.com/
> 2. mailto:rob at dumoulins.net
> 3. http://www.kbsi.co/
> 4. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rob-dumoulin/0/1b6/58
> 5. mailto:garth_rodericks at yahoo.com
> 6. mailto:DeTomaso at poca.com
> 7. http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
>
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--
Sean Korb spkorb at spkorb.org http://www.spkorb.org
'65,'68 Mustangs,'68 Cougar,'78 R100/7,'60 Metro,'59 A35,'71 Pantera #1382
"The more you drive, the less intelligent you get" --Miller
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." -P. Picasso
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