I finally drove a V8... (2 Viewers)

[seremify007]

Ahh okay. I still feel 'less than amazed' by the V8- I reckon the 330Ci feels a lot faster (probably a lot lighter too). Although for such a large car, it does handle really well.

 

[CieL]

oh and the reason why Hondas lag... it's called VTEC

if you have high surge in power down low, it wont have high surge in power up high, one of the things you have to realise about cars is that it's hard to have both so they usually set it up to have mid-range surges aka torque.

if i'm wrong tell me cause i don't know much about cars, these are just assumptions.

Nah.. should be like bowman said.. lag because the car needs to downshift.. VTEC only occurs in my car after 5000 rpm..

 

[CieL]

Ahh okay. I still feel 'less than amazed' by the V8- I reckon the 330Ci feels a lot faster (probably a lot lighter too). Although for such a large car, it does handle really well.

Maybe difference in height as well

The bigger cars are usually a bit higher.. and the closer to the ground you are the faster you "feel" ahahha

I felt like I was going real fast at 90 on my corolla.. but in my euro it feels like I'm cruising even at 130.. but it starts getting less steady at around 160-180

And also sound is a big factor ahahhaha it's psychological

 

[seremify007]

True true Ciel.. but then the BMW had the suspension lowered so it shouldn't have felt too tall- of course the 330Ci is much lower with sports suspension; but I didn't think it'd make that much difference?

What I think is amazing is the 'g force' feeling? When you do a really sharp hairpin corner (many of these exist in Singapore when joining/exiting motorways) at high speed you can really feel the force pushing you into the seat? It's... quite different to playing on the Playstation or in the arcade.

 

[bowman]

my mate has a VX SS with a vortech supercharger kit on it.
u feel it pulling from take off, it is unreal.
we smashed a monaro the other night. well not really smashed, but just eaisly pulled away from it

 

[seremify007]

Haha today I went back to driving my Terios...

OMG.
Power sucks.
Handling sucks.
Stability sucks.

... and I kept understeering ><

Either I forgot to drive in the last two wks, or I became too accustomed to the BMW.

 

[CieL]

I think you just forgot how to drive in the last two weeks =]

You should be able to accustom to whichever car you drive.

I would of thought you'd be more prone to oversteering after the beemer?

Aii.. what do you expect.. it's a Daihatsu.. when you getting the Astra (if you are)?

 

[seremify007]

My rents said if I pass my test (on March17) I'm allowed to buy it on Saturday morning...

The Beemer... yeh it did oversteer a little, but it was still alot easier to drive now that I think about it. The steering felt so light as if... power steering was on overdrive? The car always went where I pointed it... the real problem was that I forgot how long the car is and when I had to drive around one of those islands (it's very different to NSW ones) it was a real pain in the ass...

Over there, they have roundabouts... where only 2 sides (out of 4) have the Give-Way sign and a line to stop... We don't have that in Australia do we?

 

[CieL]

The steering felt so light as if... power steering was on overdrive?

No.. adaptation for high speeds

The tyres moves less when you move the steering wheel in euro cars.. so when you're going fast the car is easier to keep straight unlike japanese cars in which you move the steering wheel a tad and the whole car moves everywhere.

Well.. that's what I think anyway =]

Btw, it's not only in that car.. it's a feature in non-asian cars

 

[petar13]

CieL's right about the high speed adaptation, for the Autobahns and all that - but what happens at those speeds is the steering becomes much heavier, and far less precise. It's a high speed crash precaution. Quite the opposite to the lightness s007 experienced.
I suppose the powersteering could be of a variable variety, which changes its nature, in accordance to speed. I reckon it is near impossible to adequately parallel park such a huge and heavy car, when the powersteering is on the high speed setting.

 

[seremify007]

What about 'active steering'? I heard it's available in some BMWs and I'm not sure if it was in the one I drove- I know the one I was driving had the SEDC button which apparently modifies the height of the car and changes gear ratios, suspension settings, body control, etc... depending on conditions.

I still can't get over how light the steering felt- it felt as if I wasn't driving but rather, I was informing the car which way I wanted, and then something else along the way would do the hard work of actually pushing the steering wheel kindof thing? But then later on, my cousin also warned me that the steering in the 740iL had been modified and had also somehow become damaged/inaccurate (and I wondered if me hitting the curb earlier that day could've done that...)

 

[CieL]

Maybe it's wheel alignment was out of whack

I dont know anything on modifications but I would be pretty cautious of the car because the steering/wheels is the only thing keeping you in contact between the car frame and the road

Get over the steering, it's seriously not that great especially in Sydney.. *turns the steering column 7 rotations to aim my ass in the parking spot*

 

[seremify007]

Haha wait until you drive a Terios. I think it's easier to turn a tap faucet.

 

[CieL]

I dont want to drive a Terios =]

 

[seremify007]

It's horrible. It's bumpy. It shakes for no reason. I have to slow down for the slightest indent in the road. I change lanes and there was an incline and it bumped my car so bad I was scared ****less and steered back to my lane thinking I had hit something!

 

[CieL]

Bahah.. at least you can't speed in it..

 

[petar13]

Whoa.... A Ford GT? You serious?

EDIT: Wait a sec. You meant a Falcon, right?

Not this -

 

[seremify007]

Haha I also was wondering that... I just assumed the first one (Falcon FPV GT-P) because the GT is pretty rare in Australia (assuming you can even get a right hand drive 2005 GT here?)

 

[CieL]

EHehe.. I saw one coming out of Parra Westfield the other day.. and it was going downhill over one of those metal speed humps.. AHAHHAHA fwarrrrk it had to go sooooo slowly (two cars passed next to him).. because it was low and the suspension is stiff.. I was laughing because that car is so unsuited to anywhere besides the track

 

[seremify007]

Haha that reminds me of the BBC episode where they drove exotic cars and parked in an underground garage, but could barely come out because they were too fat and too low >__>