[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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