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Good review, Mike.
Hmm... too bad about the turbo/throttle lag, but this is becoming a common theme in the latest electronic throttle and/or turbo cars. You really need to left foot brake all cars in an autocross environment (its worth a lot of time), and with the turbo cars it helps to get into the throttle as early as possible.
I had some similar problems even in a non-turbo 2005 Corvette - the electronic throttle didn't exactly do what you wanted all the time (especially at the drag strip, even with the traction control "off" - some new cars never really turn it all the way off). We also fought with a 2007 Subaru STi turbo in STU last year and left foot braking/early throttle application was the only way to get this thing to exit a corner under boost. We couldn't legally "fix" the problems inherent with the lag, even with the programming and exhaust work allowed for in STU (our tuner tried, but the issues were deeper than they could fix). It was painful - exiting corners was a "Two count" before it would boost, so we were driving the car with the throttle applied about 2 seconds before corner exit... Hopping into a similarly prepped '05 STi was night and day, and violently better in the '05.
The LFB "boost trick" worked OK for exiting stead state corners but the power application still sucked HARD for slaloms and transitions, where you can be on/off the gas a lot. With a naturally aspirated car (like our E36 M3) I am dancing on the gas a brake pedals constantly and in/out of the gas a lot - nothing compares to the crispness of a Naturally Aspirated engine in these instances, but some turbo cars can come close if they boost quickly.
The eDiff is a marketing trick, of course - it cannot work anywhere nearly as well as a "real" LSD in an autocross environment. BMW is lazy and/or cheap by doing this to the non-M cars. The M cars all have a real limited slip diff. Wouldn't their top M cars get the eDiff if it worked? Of course. At least this can be fixed if you go to STU. :biggrin:
So even though left foot braking and early throttle application will help, it might not cure what ails a laggy turbo car... it may take some "programming" and it may take "more". Do you have a driver in your region that can LFB and is familiar with driving a turbo car? Maybe have them do a "fun run" after your next event and see what they think... just a thought.
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