[Krockit]

Made an 80 mile interstate run today with very light traffic and no wind and aired her out pretty good... Might as well have been on the Autobahn or in Montana...

Acceleration from 65 is commendable for a 3450# 4 door sedan but if it were a race to 140 mph, any modern Porsche would smoke it except a 6 banger Cayenne. That said, the stability of the 330i at high speed is terrific, far more settled than my Boxster. And it is sneakysneakysneaky fast. The acceleration is so different, so liquid that the word subdued comes to mind. You really don't think you are hauling it until you look at the speedo (I want a heads up display in my next 3 series.) This was a good stretch of road to test this illusion on because the scenery is set well back from the shoulder and doesn't give you a good "rushing by" visual reference. Very open and flat, like a race track.

It never felt that the car was beyond it's comfort zone even at 140 and along with this relaxed high speed you notice again this is a sneaky fast car either way... that is, braking for traffic (it comes up in a big hurry) or getting back up to speed as the lanes and horizon clear. Straight line braking is like a silk laser. Hit the binders and you can get from triple digits to 75 NOW... I mean I got into the brake hard and the pedal dampened, stopped and never faded. Anyone trying to draft unawares would've been in the trunk! Extremely confident, high performance brakes. I would say incredible.

A couple of guys tried to go with me after I blew by and they only caught up when traffic clotted, but downshifts to 4th at 80 and then full throttle back up to 6th ended that in a hurry. At one point the traffic clog put me into 3rd at about 65. When it cleared I went to the floor and redlined my way to 6th. VERY impressive, and it was then i got get the sense that the car was unbridled, that the VANOS was really working and that the car was noticable in its acceleration rate. Hit 140 again and there were only specks in the rearview mirror after everything settled in 6th and I could look back.

I'm sure that autobahn/high speed touring is where BMW engineering had this car's ultimate performance in mind. It's not a 2002. It's not a dragster. But what a high speed hauler. Even the RFTs seemed less intrusive and made sense at these speeds. Everything seemed lighter (naturally, with the lift fighting the mass), very lithe but planted at the same time. It's almost hard to express. It was a tremendous rush!

I'm not advocating this at all and didn't set out this morning with this intent. I was making an obligatory business run and the lack of traffic made it irresistible. DON'T do this in any defree of traffic or on tight sightline roads. DON'T do this if you haven't had formal, performance driver's training. It's not for everybody. I'd wager it's not for the majority of us 3-series owners, even though it's in your mind.....

Oh, yeah. I had the air conditioning on the whole time, set for 71 degrees on both sides of the car. It was 85 degrees and humid as Jamaica, mon.

"Let's be carefull out there."

[Crazy Bimmer]

nice.

[Minimaul]

Originally Posted by Krockit

Very open and flat, like a race track.

Just like my ex-girlfriend.

[siriusinvestor]

Originally Posted by Minimaul

Just like my ex-girlfriend.

[Asiann]

Excellent write up! The speed can just sneak up on you. I would love to see the car higher than 120mph but the limited space on an island can have its limits to what one can do. Salute

[hotsand5]

sounds like a great time, and yes the car is very comfortable until you hit about 150mph, which then the steering starts to get pretty loose. By the way, you should have been able to hit 155 in 5th gear, just touching redline

[Gearcraft]

lucky lucky guy.... somebody in here tried that and got away with a 95 bucks worth of ticket. i thought he was lucky. you're even luckier.

[NFS]

Nice post mate !

Totally agree about the 'autobahn cruiser' comment - they are just built to be right at 'home' belting up the autobahn at 130mph (plus).

Your post made me quietly smile in anticipation of getting MY 330i in Sept.

[Joe Bimmer]

Originally Posted by Krockit

Made an 80 mile interstate run today with very light traffic and no wind and aired her out pretty good... Might as well have been on the Autobahn or in Montana...

Acceleration from 65 is commendable for a 3450# 4 door sedan but if it were a race to 140 mph, any modern Porsche would smoke it except a 6 banger Cayenne. That said, the stability of the 330i at high speed is terrific, far more settled than my Boxster. And it is sneakysneakysneaky fast. The acceleration is so different, so liquid that the word subdued comes to mind. You really don't think you are hauling it until you look at the speedo (I want a heads up display in my next 3 series.) This was a good stretch of road to test this illusion on because the scenery is set well back from the shoulder and doesn't give you a good "rushing by" visual reference. Very open and flat, like a race track.

It never felt that the car was beyond it's comfort zone even at 140 and along with this relaxed high speed you notice again this is a sneaky fast car either way... that is, braking for traffic (it comes up in a big hurry) or getting back up to speed as the lanes and horizon clear. Straight line braking is like a silk laser. Hit the binders and you can get from triple digits to 75 NOW... I mean I got into the brake hard and the pedal dampened, stopped and never faded. Anyone trying to draft unawares would've been in the trunk! Extremely confident, high performance brakes. I would say incredible.

A couple of guys tried to go with me after I blew by and they only caught up when traffic clotted, but downshifts to 4th at 80 and then full throttle back up to 6th ended that in a hurry. At one point the traffic clog put me into 3rd at about 65. When it cleared I went to the floor and redlined my way to 6th. VERY impressive, and it was then i got get the sense that the car was unbridled, that the VANOS was really working and that the car was noticable in its acceleration rate. Hit 140 again and there were only specks in the rearview mirror after everything settled in 6th and I could look back.

I'm sure that autobahn/high speed touring is where BMW engineering had this car's ultimate performance in mind. It's not a 2002. It's not a dragster. But what a high speed hauler. Even the RFTs seemed less intrusive and made sense at these speeds. Everything seemed lighter (naturally, with the lift fighting the mass), very lithe but planted at the same time. It's almost hard to express. It was a tremendous rush!

I'm not advocating this at all and didn't set out this morning with this intent. I was making an obligatory business run and the lack of traffic made it irresistible. DON'T do this in any defree of traffic or on tight sightline roads. DON'T do this if you haven't had formal, performance driver's training. It's not for everybody. I'd wager it's not for the majority of us 3-series owners, even though it's in your mind.....

Oh, yeah. I had the air conditioning on the whole time, set for 71 degrees on both sides of the car. It was 85 degrees and humid as Jamaica, mon.

"Let's be carefull out there."

Dork. I drive 100+mph to pick up my dry cleaning, 2 miles from my house.

[Papa13]

sex on wheels? is that what you ment to say? haha..

[XxLancaxX]

Originally Posted by Joe Bimmer

Dork. I drive 100+mph to pick up my dry cleaning, 2 miles from my house.

Let us know when you get pulled over. LOL Hopefully someone else is from Texas and can hook you up with a good lawyer.