[DeTomaso] NPC: excerpts from WSJ's Dan Neil

[B Hower]

Dear Dr,
What a waste !Sincerely, 
Bud #3400 ( Drive it like there is no tomorrow -- for there may not be ! )

      From: Charles Engles <cengles at cox.net>
 To: 'DeTomaso Mail List' <detomaso at server.detomasolist.com> 
 Sent: Sunday, September 3, 2017 9:48 AM
 Subject: [DeTomaso] NPC: excerpts from WSJ's Dan Neil
   
  Dear Forum,



                      This weekend Dan Neil reviews the BMW i8 and the M4
  Dinan S2.  Excerpts follow:


              " You pinky-ringed minions of Babylon can ride around in
  your Ferraris and Lambos if you want.  Kind of ordinary, though.  For
  rarity, for sheer automotive rarefaction, the flagship of BMW's 2
  billion-euro I Division makes those cars look like link sausage. BMW
  will sell only about 300 of these cars in the U.S. this year, though
  not for want of trying.  It is, for starter, wildly expensive.  Our
  black-and-blue tester cost $152,695, about the same as an Acura NSX,
  which on a racetrack would leave the i8 for dead, blackened, flyblown
  carrion.  The i8 has charms other than raw performance, and for that
  price it bloody well ought to.


          ....Behind the seats is a tiny, purring 1.5 liter turbocharged
  three-cylinder gas engine and six-speed automatic transmission,
  producing 227 hp and 236 lb-feet of torque.


              In the nose of the car is AC synchronous electric motor
  (129 hp, 184 lb-ft of torque) driving the front wheels through a
  two-speed gearbox.  When the hybrid chakras are aligned, the all-wheel
  drive system output is 357 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque, pitted against
  the car's dense 3,455 pounds.  ......it will hit a top speed of 155
  mph, says BMW.  Once in a while you can hear the turbos chuff, but the
  engine growl filling the cabin is synthesized and pumped through the
  audio system speakers.    .....But the i8 is not particularly fast.  It
  might be the slowest mid-engine carbon bodied sports car with
  pain-in-the-ass doors I've ever driven.



                If the i8 is New School BMW, the M4 is the Old School.
  ..... if you were to take a factory-fresh M4 for a rage up a canyon
  road you might ask yourself, "Could these cars get any better?"  Yes,
  they could.  All you need is  (more) money and the name Steve Dinan.


              Dinan's plumbers install a resonant stainless-steel exhaust
  system and, aft of the catalytic converters, a high-flow cross-pipe,
  The popping, can-full-of-bees din emerges from dual-quad exhaust tips
  the diameter of Crisco cans.  Ungawa!


              Dinan replaces all the rubber bushings with Teflon-coated
  machined ball joints, hardened housings, and billet aluminum rear toe
  links.  The suspension mods make the Dinan drive hard and thrashy,
  stiff as a Bavarian buckboard.  The road static in the steering wheel
  will make your hands tingle.  The steering is as sensitive as sunburn.


                Just the way I like it."



              My comment:  IIRC, this is the second contemporary "sports"
  car using a high-end audio system to "enhance" the engine and exhaust
  sounds for a more satisfying artificial experience for the modern
  owner.  I expect the latest uber-expensive SUVs to have synthetic F1
  engine notes.  Appalling.



                                  Warmest regards,  Chuck Engles
_______________________________________________


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-------------- next part --------------
   Dear Dr,
   What a waste !
   Sincerely,
   Bud #3400 ( Drive it like there is no tomorrow -- for there may not be
   ! )
     __________________________________________________________________

   From: Charles Engles <cengles at cox.net>
   To: 'DeTomaso Mail List' <detomaso at server.detomasolist.com>
   Sent: Sunday, September 3, 2017 9:48 AM
   Subject: [DeTomaso] NPC: excerpts from WSJ's Dan Neil
     Dear Forum,
                         This weekend Dan Neil reviews the BMW i8 and the
   M4
     Dinan S2.  Excerpts follow:
                 " You pinky-ringed minions of Babylon can ride around in
     your Ferraris and Lambos if you want.  Kind of ordinary, though.  For
     rarity, for sheer automotive rarefaction, the flagship of BMW's 2
     billion-euro I Division makes those cars look like link sausage. BMW
     will sell only about 300 of these cars in the U.S. this year, though
     not for want of trying.  It is, for starter, wildly expensive.  Our
     black-and-blue tester cost $152,695, about the same as an Acura NSX,
     which on a racetrack would leave the i8 for dead, blackened, flyblown
     carrion.  The i8 has charms other than raw performance, and for that
     price it bloody well ought to.
             ....Behind the seats is a tiny, purring 1.5 liter
   turbocharged
     three-cylinder gas engine and six-speed automatic transmission,
     producing 227 hp and 236 lb-feet of torque.
                 In the nose of the car is AC synchronous electric motor
     (129 hp, 184 lb-ft of torque) driving the front wheels through a
     two-speed gearbox.  When the hybrid chakras are aligned, the
   all-wheel
     drive system output is 357 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque, pitted against
     the car's dense 3,455 pounds.  ......it will hit a top speed of 155
     mph, says BMW.  Once in a while you can hear the turbos chuff, but
   the
     engine growl filling the cabin is synthesized and pumped through the
     audio system speakers.    .....But the i8 is not particularly fast.
   It
     might be the slowest mid-engine carbon bodied sports car with
     pain-in-the-ass doors I've ever driven.
                   If the i8 is New School BMW, the M4 is the Old School.
     ..... if you were to take a factory-fresh M4 for a rage up a canyon
     road you might ask yourself, "Could these cars get any better?"  Yes,
     they could.  All you need is  (more) money and the name Steve Dinan.
                 Dinan's plumbers install a resonant stainless-steel
   exhaust
     system and, aft of the catalytic converters, a high-flow cross-pipe,
     The popping, can-full-of-bees din emerges from dual-quad exhaust tips
     the diameter of Crisco cans.  Ungawa!
                 Dinan replaces all the rubber bushings with Teflon-coated
     machined ball joints, hardened housings, and billet aluminum rear toe
     links.  The suspension mods make the Dinan drive hard and thrashy,
     stiff as a Bavarian buckboard.  The road static in the steering wheel
     will make your hands tingle.  The steering is as sensitive as
   sunburn.
                   Just the way I like it."
                 My comment:  IIRC, this is the second contemporary
   "sports"
     car using a high-end audio system to "enhance" the engine and exhaust
     sounds for a more satisfying artificial experience for the modern
     owner.  I expect the latest uber-expensive SUVs to have synthetic F1
     engine notes.  Appalling.
                                     Warmest regards,  Chuck Engles
   _______________________________________________
   Detomaso Email List is not managed by POCA
   Posted emails must not exceed 1.5 Megabytes
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   use the links above.
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   message posted here to all past, current, or future members of the
   list. They also grant the list owner permission to maintain an archive
   or approve the archiving of list messages.

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