[TenTec] Re Please tell me about the BMW

[Bill Tippett]

N4LQ wrote:
 >Speaking of BMW and "latest-fad technology", read here about their new
idrive system. Most of the interior controls are intregated <sic> into one big
knob on the console. Some of this review reminds me of certain ham rigs.
Here is a clip from the Edmunds review and the link.

         Hey Steve, that BMW 700 series is targeted at the Icom owners who
prefer big color displays and fancy audio systems over actual performance.
Here's another example from the same site which is a better example of
performance-driven technology in BMW's latest M5 rocket:

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/roadtests/firstdrive/103035/article.html

The SMG they refer to stands for Synchronous M Gearbox ("M" for Motorsport
Division).  I understand they developed this for Icom owners who could
never figure out how to use a manual transmission.  Actually it is based
on the same both-hands-on-steering-wheel gearshift used in all F1 cars now.

                                                 73,  Bill  W4ZV

P.S.  The author's Subaru comment below somehow reminds me of certain
"110 dB dynamic range and +40 dBm IP3" claims versus Orion's actual
performance...perhaps Icom uses the same advertising agency.  ;-)

"The SMG's launch control holds the big 5.0-liter V10 at an uneven 4,000 
rpm, its warbling high-speed idle signaling that all 10 cylinders are 
champing at the bit.

Let go of the SMG's gearshift lever while simultaneously keeping the 
throttle pinned and the tires squeal, as the big V10 spins to its 8,250-rpm 
redline faster than my 1.33 gigahertz laptop can type the words.

Flick the steering wheel-mounted upshift paddle for second and the 
285/35ZR19 rear tires chirp under the strain of all that torque. 
Split-seconds later, you're doing the same thing for third and the tires 
still can't hold traction, squealing once again as the V10 starts to sing 
its post-6,000-rpm, Formula One wail.

A mile later you back off, the speedo hovering around 160 miles an hour. At 
those speeds, the pylons demarcating the course meld into one long orange 
blur and the 1,000-foot braking area that BMW has provided to get the M5's 
3,869 pounds back down to a decent speed seems impossibly short. Cripes, 
this thing is fast.

And you haven't even hit *the* button: The one that makes the M5 feel as if 
it's grown a turbocharger ­ the button that kicks you so hard in the pants 
that it makes that last top-speed run seem like a Sunday hop to your 
favorite bar for wine-soaked steaks and a side of couscous. The button is 
the power switch just forward of the gearshift lever. When the V10 is first 
fired up, it defaults to its 400-horsepower mode, a figure not 
coincidentally identical to the maximum output of the outgoing M5's 5.0L 
V8. And since the two cars weigh virtually the same, it means the new V10 
M5 in its economy mode is as quick as the old V8 was at full speed.

Light up that power button and it feels as if the Bimmer has indeed grown 
two extra cylinders, though, in fact, what it does is let the M5's 10 
individual throttle butterflies completely open (the reduced power mode 
restricts them to about 90 percent). That mile-long straight where the M5 
previously just managed to top out at 161 mph? Well, in full 507-hp mode, 
it tops 167 mph with almost a half a mile to spare before that 
aforementioned braking zone.

BMW claims a 0-to-62-mph time of 4.7 seconds, which is about identical to a 
<http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/roadtests/firstdrive/103035//new/2005/subaru/imprezawrxsti/index.html>Subaru 
WRX STi. Methinks the German automaker is being a trifle disingenuous 
because the Subaru ­ as rapid as it is ­ would need a bottle of nitrous and 
a tornado-force tailwind to keep pace. But then what do you expect from an 
engine that's cast in the same facility as the BMW-Williams F1 motor and is 
the largest naturally aspirated engine I can think of that exceeds that 
Holy Grail of more than 100 hp per liter of displacement? Especially one 
that has 10 individually tuned inlet manifolds, BMW's BI-VANOS system with 
variable valve timing on both intake and exhaust cams and sounds just like 
a F1 engine once the revs climb past 6,000 rpm. As a last point of 
reference, it's also worth noting that at 7.7 pounds per horsepower, the M5 
is the most powerful BMW sold anywhere in the world, eclipsing even the 
limited-production, carbon-fiber-infused M3 CSL."