Vs Edmunds - IL Track Tested: 2009 BMW 750Li vs. 2009 Mercedes-Benz S550


Cause everyday driving you are not really pushing it (unless you have a lead foot). A very simplified way to look at it is, off boost, a turbo engine is like a smaller NA engine. And on boost, like a bigger N/A engine.

Turbos (unlike superchargers) don't by itself consume extra fuel, since it is runs off exhaust gases. The extra fuel consumption when it is on boost comes from the extra fuel needed to burn the additional amount of charge the turbos are sucking in and when it is off bost it doesn't need that.

I get your point, people does not use the engine. But, in very many cases they do. My point is that the cycle needs to be redefined...

...at least to show that FI for performance engines are not the way to go, that path is just to play with numbers, as people who gets themselves a top tier performance sedan or coupe form one of the german brands are not going to not use the power. Hence, using FI for hat segment is completely and utterly irrelevant, at least if the real world is something to measure by...
 
On acceleration, IMO unless we're talking about a clear 1/2 second advantage then it will be a wash in most cases. Once you get past the 1/2 second mark you can see the superior/faster machine pulling ahead. Edmunds times are always on the slow side though. Everyone else in the known world gets better times for the S550.

M

Half a sec at quarter mile (as in this case) is huge. Like almost 5 car lengths.
 
Half a sec at quarter mile (as in this case) is huge. Like almost 5 car lengths.


Yeah thats why I said that is where you can really see the difference, but I was really talking about 0-60 times. Which in this case the BMW clearly had the edge.

M
 
Yeah thats why I said that is where you can really see the difference, but I was really talking about 0-60 times. Which in this case the BMW clearly had the edge.

M

And there the difference seems a bit steep, considering the small gap in hp performance.
 
I get your point, people does not use the engine. But, in very many cases they do. My point is that the cycle needs to be redefined...

...at least to show that FI for performance engines are not the way to go, that path is just to play with numbers, as people who gets themselves a top tier performance sedan or coupe form one of the german brands are not going to not use the power. Hence, using FI for hat segment is completely and utterly irrelevant, at least if the real world is something to measure by...

I disagree with that reasoning. I drive a M3, albeit an old one and 90% of the time I am driving at a sedate phase. I would think an older driver in a bigger luxury car be even more sane than that. On public roads, most people drive very conservatively most of the time even when driving cars are capable of amazing performance.
 
I disagree with that reaosoning. I drive a M3, albeit an old one and 90% of the time I am driving at a sedate phase. I would think an older driver in a bigger luxury car be even more sane than that. On public roads, most people drive very conservatively most of the time even when driving cars are capable of amazing performance.

Well, looking at the current and future target demo for the M division I would say you would be getting more and more right by the day. I'm afarid my reasoning was based on what M used to be.

BTW, give that poor, understimulated M3 a good run once in a while... :D
 
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