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02-20-2008, 08:01 PM | #1 |
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M cars and super cars
Somthing strange. The newest Mcars are bordering on being supercars. Almost all the performance of say an E60 M5 or E92 M3 mirrors that of say an F430 or Lamborghini Gallardo. Whats wierd is that BMW M's can top out higher than either of those two. the M5 can max (un-limited) at 205 and the M3 is 201 (or so BMW claimed). How is that possible? the F430 runs out of breath at 195 and the gallardo is right there too. what make the M cars so fast? gearing? I cant figure it out
BMW may have moved away from making touchy feely track cars but at least they can make dailey drivers that could trump weekend exotics. amazing |
02-20-2008, 08:10 PM | #2 | |
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Quote:
There is nothing magical to M cars. Power, Gearing, Aero... An M6 will do 206 mph. Top speed, assuming nothing crazy with gearing / aero, is heavily dependent on horsepower. This is why the F430 will max out at 195. Also the M3's limit is not 200 mph, more like 180-185 given the power. The coolest part about the M cars is how stealthy they are. If you have no idea what the ///M badge is, you will be treated with a nice view of the bangle-butt. Here is a video for you
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"Aerodynamics are for people who cannot build engines"......Enzo Ferrari
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02-20-2008, 08:58 PM | #4 |
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They are everyday use cars. You can, but would not want to use a Ferrari every day, but you can and do want to use an M car everyday.
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02-20-2008, 10:46 PM | #5 |
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you hit top speed when there is an equilibrium between the amount of power produced and power done on the car by drag, friction, drivetrain loses, etc.
for most cars including supercars, drag, friction are similar, thus your top speed heavily depends on how much power you are producing. that's why M have similar or even higher top speed than some supercars. |
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02-21-2008, 02:02 AM | #6 |
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M cars' performance have always been bordering on supercars in their time.
Mid-engine supercars like Lamborghini and Ferrari have high Cd, usually no less than 0.34 (much higher in some instances) which effectively runs them into a brickwall at high speed. However, they are compensated with negative lift and with wider track, they are generally more stable at high speed sweepers. |
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