[Kelvin]

Hey folks,

When I complained to my sister that the M5 was slow, she thought that I was a spoilt brat. She said "awww c'mon, you just got an $82,000 monster!!! Now you're complaining that it's slow!!"

Today she had the opportunity to take a ride in my car. She said "you're right Kelvin, the Nissan you had in Singapore was faster!"

While driving with her on US 1-9 in New Jersey, I switched on the sport mode. The sport mode has very good low end torque, but the high end is very disappointing. I dragged through the gears from stop even spinning the rear tires while I threw the clutch entering into second gear. "I'm going full throttle already!" I told my sister. She said "Is that it?!?!?"

Later I tried dragging through the gears from stop with the sport mode off. The high end torque was more significant and felt more powerful after 4000rpm. She too wasn't impressed, but agreed that she felt that the car with "sport mode" off was faster.

Is there a problem with my car or have anyone of you have experieced the same thing?

 

[rickw]

That's certainly not how it's supposed to work. The sport mode is just supposed to speed up how fast the throttle rolls on, not change anything, at any RPM, about how much power is developed at full throttle.

What I have noticed is that the power delivery is so smooth (i.e. flat torque curve) that the car feels slower than expected. Most high performance cars have peakier power output and you really feel things build up. Even the 540i/6 has more of a surge in the power delivery, though it falls flat at 5,000 RPM.

However, when I get back into the M3, or 540i/6, there's no doubt that it's my perspective that has changed. Those cars used to feel quick to me, but now feel like they're pulling a trailer compared to the M5.

Rick

 

[TurboPhoon55]

I experienced the same thing after drivin a new corvette. The aceleration did not feel that impressive 0-60. I did at least 40 full throttle runs in the Vette up to about 80 mph. The Vette also has a pretty smooth power delivery. After driving the Vette though other cars like the S4 felt much slower.

 

[Jeff L]

The sport mode only effects steering weight and throttle opening speed. Those are the facts, end of discussion. It does not alter the software in any other way per BMW and variuos testers.

You are basing everything on your perceptions which are not an accurate measure of actual acceleration. That is why we in the engineering world do not rely on perception, but rather measurement and calibration with known standards. The only way to substantiate your claims would be to run some performance trials using the appropiate equipment in both cars in the same conditions (ie. altitude, temperature, humidity, etc.) Then you could make some accurate conclusions about which cars are faster.

I rely on the variuos car magazines for this sort of testing because I do not have the facilities or equipment for this. They show the M5 0-60 in 4.7 to 4.8 secs and the quarter mile in 13.2 to 13.3 at 108 MPH. (The 108 is the significant number here as it somewhat negates tire spin.) And finally 0-150 in 30 seconds or so. Based on these numbers the M5 is one of the faster production cars you can buy. Not the fastest obviously. If you want raw accelerative power, the Viper comes to mind for about the same price. Overall the M5 is easily in the 98th percentile of the fastest production cars even with some real exotics thrown in.

I agree that it's speed can be misleading because of the smooth and consistent delivery of power, but if you look down at your speedometer it can be frightening. Kind of like a large jet on takeoff, your are doing 150 MPH in a short time and do not even realize it or feel it.

The facts speak for themselves, but perceptions are completely individual and I certainly cannot argue with yours. I had a supercharged M3 prior to this and I won many a race with both American heavy metal and Japanese turbos. My new M5 is definetly in another league and I am quite satisfied. I puposely was looking for a car that was smoth, comfortable and fast for street use and that it was I got.

A suggestion would be to get your car dyno tested in both sport and normal mode to see if there is some power loss. If there is, a trip to the dealer with your results may be in order. They could run some diagnostics maybe. To be honest I never really drive in the normal mode because there is too much assist in the steering. Good Luck.