Quote:
Originally Posted by vtknight
Again - I am trying to stick to facts as opposed to bias. I recognize you are a MB guy - that is clear from your Avatar description and posts.
Here's why:
You state you are "surprised" the base 600 HP 533 lb ft F90 M5 did not have a larger difference in performance when compared to the 604 HP, 627 lb ft AMG E63...S? I will have to go ahead and ask you why not - factually please. By all accounts, as the general rule, each 10 lbs of weight is equal to a 1 HP difference, therefore the 250 lb difference is ~25 HP. The Merc is up nearly 100 ft lbs of torque however.
As to your point about equalizing the race - no - as they are completely different cars, with different outputs, chassis's and tunes - there are million of things different between the two cars. Tires however - the PS4's - which the F90 can come with - they are not aftermarket - is something that can and should be equalized in a comparison test - and it is something that makes a significant performance difference for ANY car. If BMW - in their wisdom - provide Pirelli tires ONLY for the F90 in the UK - as according to Goonba, they are so perfectly suited for the UK environment - while Mercedes - somehow in their infinite lack of wisdom it would seem having obviously missed this "well-known" information, chooses the Michelin PS4's (yet somehow getting much improved performance despite their apparent "inferiority" compared to the Pirelli's) there is not much I can say. For UK owners anyway.
So - Yes - if you live in the UK - Maybe give your BMW Rep a call. Swap your crappy Pirelli tires as your first mod and get what we have here in North America - from the BMW factory - and you will go from losing to the more powerful and higher tier E63S by one tenth of a second on a short, tight road course, where tires literally matter most, to beating the more powerful, higher tier E63S by a full SECOND.
Fairly clear to me. Objectively.
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Both Mercedes and BMW provide Pirelli PZ4s in the UK as standard. No idea why some tests have Michelins for the E63, and certainly not convinced it makes any difference in UK weather on an abandoned runway or unmaintained track.
The torque range won the battle in Auto Express as it always does. Think he makes it clear that the E63 just rips more easily when kept in the sweet spot. I honestly think you are over thinking the whole tyre thing - BMW are not stupid to do this across Europe.