Motor Trend: Best Driver's Car


Agreed. It would have been interesting to see the 991 GT3 RS in that line up too but that S did a very stellar job.
 
I think the most impressive cars of all are the Viper ACR and the Mustang, they are nowhere near the fastest on the straight line yet they put in amazing lap times, especially that ACR, it just destroys everything on track. As for the NSX, for all that high tech construction and drive train combination...it gets left behind by the competition no the straight line, and on the track. So why would anyone buy one if the hybrid tech fail to improve the performance and handling of the car?

I have MotorTrend on demand and they posted the filming video ... the ACR had transmission issues at the end of the drag race since they had to repeat it for 20 cuts ... 2nd and 3rd gears were griding as hell. He had to pause between shifts, synchros seemed pretty gone.
 
Really disappointed with the BMW.
They basically defined the term "Driver's car" and invented the term "Ultimate driving machine"
However nowadays they do not have a halo car. One that put all competition to shame and ignites imagination.
It seems they are interested only in revenue and sustainability and making fat cars that sell.
Too bad...
 
Really disappointed with the BMW.
They basically defined the term "Driver's car" and invented the term "Ultimate driving machine"
However nowadays they do not have a halo car. One that put all competition to shame and ignites imagination.
It seems they are interested only in revenue and sustainability and making fat cars that sell.
Too bad...
It is strange how the M4 GTS failed translate its performance on the Nurburgring to Laguna Seca
 
I'm a huge BMW fan but they've lost the plot although the M2 is a good car it's still not a great. As long as the bean counters run BMW and they continue selling more cars the less they will invest in BMW M and it will continue being lackluster as it is now . MB and Audi are making exciting cars look where the R8 and AMG GTS are compared to anything BMW makes...

BMW is the new Totoya.
 
A bit of behind the scene footage of how the team put the whole thing together. It is very brutal how they treat these cars, hot day, 17 standing starts, sometimes cars had to slow down right away.

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The Viper was something, but it's sad that its transmission was about to go bust.
 
No M2, Focus RS, GT3 RS, 488? Ferrari probably being Ferrari, so I get it not being there. But the rest?
 
No M2, Focus RS, GT3 RS, 488? Ferrari probably being Ferrari, so I get it not being there. But the rest?
I am guessing BMW and Ford don't want to supply them because they are sending in the M4 GTS and the Shelby 350 GTR. The M2 and the Focus RS probably don't have enough fire power either.

Porsche might have sold all their GT3 RS? Given how the value of the car has sky rocketed? This is just from my guess.
 
I am guessing BMW and Ford don't want to supply them because they are sending in the M4 GTS and the Shelby 350 GTR. The M2 and the Focus RS probably don't have enough fire power either.

Porsche might have sold all their GT3 RS? Given how the value of the car has sky rocketed? This is just from my guess.

Yea, maybe, but doesn't make any sense to me why a manufacturer wouldn't want multiple cars in a test and increase their chance of winning? And I am sure there were other "car of the year" tests with multiple Porsches and BMWs in them.
 
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I love the GT350R. I am glad it comes with a manual transmission, but I wonder how much time a good DCT transmission would cut from its lap time. Or better yet, it would be interesting if all the cars were offered and tested with manuals to see just how much a difference there is in lap times.
 
I'm a huge BMW fan but they've lost the plot although the M2 is a good car it's still not a great.

In a top performance car today, the inline-6 engine is a dead end (I don't care that Mercedes is going that way in lesser models for economic reasons).

BMW will only be able to come back with either a V6 engine (look at Porsche and Audi) OR a very high performance turbocharged inline-4, a kind of E30 M3 of the modern days. I mean before electricity will take over.
 
In a top performance car today, the inline-6 engine is a dead end (I don't care that Mercedes is going that way in lesser models for economic reasons).

BMW will only be able to come back with either a V6 engine (look at Porsche and Audi) OR a very high performance turbocharged inline-4, a kind of E30 M3 of the modern days. I mean before electricity will take over.
Why is the inline 6 a dead end?
 
Why is the inline 6 a dead end?

Too tall, too long for no power advantage... actually, Mercedes is moving that way not only for economic reasons but also for under the hood space saving reasons in order to fully embrace hybridization! But, do you really imagine an inline-6 Merc GT or the like?

Do you remember what Randy Probst also said about the BMW 1M then?!

RANDY POBST’S IMPRESSIONS

On handling… “The 1M is an improvement on the 135, which I’ve spent some time in, but NOT my favorite car. In fact, I hate this car. It won’t turn. The thing I didn’t like about the 135 was its mid-corner understeer, its reluctance to turn once it was in the corner, and the 1M still does that. And it’s the primary thing I remember after driving the car. That it is very lazy on turn-in.”

On the transmission… “The shifter is slick, and light. I really enjoy that. You gotta do it just with your fingertips. If you try to muscle it with a fist, you’re gonna get the wrong gear.”

On the seats… “I like the seats a lot, very comfortable and supportive, except…too high. I’m a tall guy; this reminds me a lot of the older Volvos or Range Rovers where they mount the seat really high so you can get a good view. Which is great, but I’m tall, I’m already high. I want to be down in the car. And I couldn’t lower the seat enough, and I just felt like I was sitting on the car, not in the car, which I’m not a fan of.”

On the steering… “Steering, relatively slow ratio, which I actually like because I think everyone turns in too fast. I’ve always liked BMW for building that into their cars. I just didn’t like what happened with the handling as I turned the wheel, there was just not enough response entering the corner. And braking hard made it worse. A lot worse. I mean, that car would go straight if I was in the brakes very hard at all. So, I found it very disappointing.”

On the engine… “The engine is smooth, the power is reasonably good, but in today’s world, that’s not a fast car. I’m telling ya, it is not a fast car in today’s world. Maybe because I’ve just spent too much time in 500-horsepower cars.”

Overall… “It’s almost like it was built by safety engineers. But only until you get on the power, and then, getting on the power, it’s not really good at putting the power down, either. I’m just not impressed with this car. I like the M3 so much that I find the 1M to be very, very disappointing, though the M3 understeers too much, too. I think the lawyers are running the handling department at BMW right now, and they don’t have to. Just make it handle like the 1988 M3 did — that car was perfect. You know, I hate to pick on what is obviously overall is a pretty good car, but in today’s world there are not very many cars I hate…I hate this car.”


TURN NOTES

Turn 2: “This car will not turn in to tight corners, then pushes mid-corner. Easy to provoke power oversteer.”

Turn 6: “1M is best in this corner. Slow entry becomes good for stability. Less push at higher speeds, good. Still not right on power.”

Turn 11: “Big entry push. Snap power oversteer in second gear.”
 
Randy Pobst on the M4 GTS, can you identify a (Motor)trend here (pun intended)?!

“I found the M4 to be a really enjoyable car on the track. Handles way more, handles way better than in the street car form. So it’s a real genuine step forward for the car. It can be driven really hard. It is stable. It has significant understeer in the middle of the corner, which actually kind of surprised me. And then it frees up and gets really neutral on your power. And it has good power, and I found that I had to be a little careful in second gear because it had enough power to easily spin the tires, which I did on my first lap. Came out of Turn 11 sideways, but after that, by just being gentle and kind of smart with the throttle, the BMW put power down well. It did the same thing in third and fourth gear, and away we went. Really enjoyable driving experience. The car is tight. There’s no sense of body roll or, you know, flopping or any of those kind of street car feelings you get on a track. Not here in the M4 GTS. It is well-damped. It transfers the weight slowly and under control. Which is what you want, by the way. The exhaust note is so odd how when you lift it burps.”
 
2017 edition just started :cool:


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Car list:

Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
Aston Martin DB11
Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport
Ferrari 488 GTB
Lexus LC 500
Mazda MX-5 Miata RF Club
McLaren 570GT
Mercedes-AMG GT R
Nissan GT-R NISMO
Porsche 718 Cayman S
Porsche 911 Turbo S

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12th
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11th
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10th
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9th
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12th -- Aston Martin DB11 ---------- 1:40.05
11th -- Nissan GT-R Nismo ---------- 1:35.01
10th -- Mazda MX-5 Miata RF Club -- 1:51.43
9th --- McLaren 570GT -------------- 1:34.87
 
The field is the most competitive it's ever been; in previous years there would be a max of 4-5 solid contenders, then the rest just showing up for appearances.

It's nice to see both Ferrari & McLaren represented this year.

The 570 GT in 9th, yikes. Seems like the show's over for the R35/6 GTR, with every new comparison it gets worse.
 

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