Dingdongler

If this is true it will be a disaster. I had no problem with M division turning to turbo charging, actually I, unlike lots of other M enthusiasts thought it would be an improvement. But this???

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/defa...?storyId=23192

Fantom

Surely BMW will change it if no one orders one. The customer is always right. You can't sell a car no one wants.

SPEN555

Must be too many numpty M drivers who can't change gear properly in a manual resulting in too many warranty claims

Olly

So huge power, twin turbo grunt and automatic transmission?

They already do one. Its called an Alpina.

bighead

iTrader: (1)

that is bullsh*t.......as alot of supercharged E9x M3s run more than 600lbs/ft on their standard DCT box

Trout

iTrader: (1)

80% of 911s are bought with PDK. Before that it was the same with Tip.

And both of these are not just bad for being autos, they are bad autos.

Matteeboy

There is a Chris Harris article in Evo about Porsches - its about how all journos hate pdk yet customers all ignore them and order it anyway!

Butkus

Is there still an issue with PDK though? I thought the main problem with it was when it first came out it could only be had with counter-intuitive buttons rather than paddles. This has now been rectified. PDK is much better than tip.

zip106

You have to pay extra to get the paddles, though!

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Auto is an auto...being semi-automatic, dual clutch or whatever. The type of auto doesn't bother me. The exception being if is a CVT rubber-band drive, great for F1 cars (which is why they were banned), but rubbish on road cars.

On that premise there is nothing wrong with a epicyclic transmission that uses planetary gearsets (i.e the old school automatic). How it 'feels' Is down to how its been calibrated to engage each clutch or brake band (thats how old fashioned autos obtain gears...via a series of clutches and brake bands; All gears are always meshed all of the time). They can all have flappy paddle, sequential shift, tiptronic, be hard or slushy regardless of internal design.

They can be made to change with instant brutal hard shifts - As hard and fast than DSG or semi-auto-sequential (and why top fuel drag racers use them), the torque convertor can be substituted for a automated clutch unit (like a DSG or automated manual/semi auto/sequetial), and in 99% of modern boxes this is the case anyway as the converter is locked up from 3rd gear onwards....some can be calibrated lock up on 1st gear, which believe me is fun on a big BHP American V8

So what I'm saying is the type of automatic transmission doesn't bother me - to me, its a automatic reagrdless. The only thing that differs is how slushy/hard the manufacturers specifies it.

The fact that no conventional manual option is offered is what really bother me, just like feather-light over-assisted steering and over-assisted brakes. and non switchable trraction/stability control.

john banks

Dual clutch gearboxes work superbly with a turbocharged engine though, and are superb for launching. Constant acceleration, constant full boost. A manual gearbox in the same circumstances is slow and fragile.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

So does a conventional automatic transmission - if designed for hard+fast shifts

john banks

Can a conventional auto give constant accleration? What car is it in?

In my dual clutch datalogs I see an ignition retard for about 20ms, but I can't measure any actual drop in acceleration through a change that is away from the trend of gradually reducing accleration with speed.

Dingdongler

Thankfully it has a DCT after all, first drive video here.

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/f10...ml#post2024218

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

Turbo power will be good ... huge tuning potential

TX.

Brun

Still looks like a step backwards from the old model

bighead

iTrader: (1)

sounds pretty good now ...I was put off at first !!...but then the size is the issue

Dingdongler

The size and weight will be a huge issue. It will be interesting to see whether M division can do anything clever to counteract this problem.....