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- Martin
K, you're a classic. Keep flying that German car flag - I've no beef with you.
First up, the opinions regarding the ride and engine sound are mine based on my own expectations.
Twin-scroll turbocharged inline fours sound anodyne to me - all of them. It's just what twin-scroll turbocharging does - it f#cks up the exhaust note. Look at even BMW's once sonorous inline 6s: a shadow of their former tuneful selves. The only way for Merc to make that new (and blooming amazing all the same) unit sound decent is to fake it up - as is common practice these days - with resonators or cabin sound boxes or whatever other skulduggery. Just look at the difference in sound between the twin-turbo'd 1M Coupe and the single turbo'd, twin-scroll M135i. Twin-scroll turbocharging wreaks havoc with exhaust notes; it's not an imagining of mine - it just is so. The F10 M5 is a classic example of a crapload of fancy hardware [V8, twin-turbo'd, cross-manifolded, twin-scroll] sounding, well, crap. No better than a hotted up JDM STI. An M157 twin-turbo V8 - ah, now that sounds MUCH better. The recipe? Regular turbos each dedicated to a bank of cylinders - voila.
My expectations about the ride stem from there being no alchemy available to make such a setup ride decently. I'm taking about a typical >60 and <40 FWD-based, tranversely laid out powertrain designed for such high performance applications. I emphatically doubt that Mercedes Benz has miraculously stumbled upon a recipe to make the 45 AMG twins ride well. We've seen these layouts before and they still have a good measure of brittle suspension feel. This is my expectation based on my own experience. If, through my own experience on real-world roads with a 45 AMG, I come to realise otherwise then I will be the first to proclaim the miracle here.
Sure, I read the Carsales.com.au report - who the hell are they? You may have an inherent distrust for Brit auto hacks but people like Bovingdon still carry greater credibility (just look at how he can really drive) than some arbitrary website's staff writer. But, let's meet halfway and wait for Chris Harris' review.
What is it with people thinking I'm an engineer? I have never proclaimed to be one. I am a registered part-time driving instructor - nothing more - who has through the course of a decade's work gathered a little bit of knowledge. For example, I intrinsically understand the difference between centre-of-rotation vs polar-moment-of-inertia much to the disdain of the "real" engineers on this forum.
I haven't fallen for anything; I'm just calling upon some personal recollection. My opinion of expectations is aligned with Bovingdon's - that's all there is to it. Proven wrong I am actually both humble and grateful to have learned something new.
As for EVO, well it's not what it used to be is it? The onslaught of the internet-based publication coupled with the explosive proliferation of mobile devices is an impending doom for the printed publication. The industry is clearly in a state of transition now. That being said, as an EVO subscriber from the first year I can tell you more honestly than most that the publication is at its nadir for me at the moment. It's been through changes, I recall all too well the departure of Meaden and Bovingdon for Driver's Republic and how I thought that they'd hit a low point. Under the editorship of Trott though, I have to say that I pay my (hellishly expensive for ZARs) more begrudgingly than ever.
That said, I think you have too far a conspiracist's bent for thinking that every British publication is hell bent on rubbishing German cars. EVO panned the X6M and in the same year heaped the highest praise on many other German vehicles.
Do I think that such publications are "sponsored" by certain car companies? Hell yeah. Was I impressed with EVO's write-up on the F-Types vs 991 and 981? Not really, to me it seemed like they were always trying to pander. But at least they had the good grace to place the Germans higher than your beloved Cats.
Kilcrohane said:
First up, the opinions regarding the ride and engine sound are mine based on my own expectations.
Twin-scroll turbocharged inline fours sound anodyne to me - all of them. It's just what twin-scroll turbocharging does - it f#cks up the exhaust note. Look at even BMW's once sonorous inline 6s: a shadow of their former tuneful selves. The only way for Merc to make that new (and blooming amazing all the same) unit sound decent is to fake it up - as is common practice these days - with resonators or cabin sound boxes or whatever other skulduggery. Just look at the difference in sound between the twin-turbo'd 1M Coupe and the single turbo'd, twin-scroll M135i. Twin-scroll turbocharging wreaks havoc with exhaust notes; it's not an imagining of mine - it just is so. The F10 M5 is a classic example of a crapload of fancy hardware [V8, twin-turbo'd, cross-manifolded, twin-scroll] sounding, well, crap. No better than a hotted up JDM STI. An M157 twin-turbo V8 - ah, now that sounds MUCH better. The recipe? Regular turbos each dedicated to a bank of cylinders - voila.
My expectations about the ride stem from there being no alchemy available to make such a setup ride decently. I'm taking about a typical >60 and <40 FWD-based, tranversely laid out powertrain designed for such high performance applications. I emphatically doubt that Mercedes Benz has miraculously stumbled upon a recipe to make the 45 AMG twins ride well. We've seen these layouts before and they still have a good measure of brittle suspension feel. This is my expectation based on my own experience. If, through my own experience on real-world roads with a 45 AMG, I come to realise otherwise then I will be the first to proclaim the miracle here.
Sure, I read the Carsales.com.au report - who the hell are they? You may have an inherent distrust for Brit auto hacks but people like Bovingdon still carry greater credibility (just look at how he can really drive) than some arbitrary website's staff writer. But, let's meet halfway and wait for Chris Harris' review.
What is it with people thinking I'm an engineer? I have never proclaimed to be one. I am a registered part-time driving instructor - nothing more - who has through the course of a decade's work gathered a little bit of knowledge. For example, I intrinsically understand the difference between centre-of-rotation vs polar-moment-of-inertia much to the disdain of the "real" engineers on this forum.
I haven't fallen for anything; I'm just calling upon some personal recollection. My opinion of expectations is aligned with Bovingdon's - that's all there is to it. Proven wrong I am actually both humble and grateful to have learned something new.
As for EVO, well it's not what it used to be is it? The onslaught of the internet-based publication coupled with the explosive proliferation of mobile devices is an impending doom for the printed publication. The industry is clearly in a state of transition now. That being said, as an EVO subscriber from the first year I can tell you more honestly than most that the publication is at its nadir for me at the moment. It's been through changes, I recall all too well the departure of Meaden and Bovingdon for Driver's Republic and how I thought that they'd hit a low point. Under the editorship of Trott though, I have to say that I pay my (hellishly expensive for ZARs) more begrudgingly than ever.
That said, I think you have too far a conspiracist's bent for thinking that every British publication is hell bent on rubbishing German cars. EVO panned the X6M and in the same year heaped the highest praise on many other German vehicles.
Do I think that such publications are "sponsored" by certain car companies? Hell yeah. Was I impressed with EVO's write-up on the F-Types vs 991 and 981? Not really, to me it seemed like they were always trying to pander. But at least they had the good grace to place the Germans higher than your beloved Cats.
