If There Were No BMWs
- Thread starter poboyis
- Start date
Chesty Bonds said:
Hey I'm good with that ![[hihi]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_hihi.gif "Hi Hi [hihi]")
It's very difficult to say that the other car manufacturers would be any further behind with or without BMWs pioneering ways. Epj3, i do see where you're coming from but it isn't really a case of BMW first and the rest second.
It's very difficult to say that the other car manufacturers would be any further behind with or without BMWs pioneering ways. Epj3, i do see where you're coming from but it isn't really a case of BMW first and the rest second.
European cars in general changed eveyrthing to do with cars. Europeans built the first sports cars.
Thank god for that
![[cheers]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_cheers.gif "Cheers [cheers]"){kind=icon}
We must be reading different magazines, because in the magazines I buy(Automobile, Car, C&D, etc.) every time a new model comes out, I often read: "[fill in auto here] raises the benchmark," or "this model sets a standard for [fill in name here] to beat," etc. The benchmark thing is cyclical...BMW may have "set the benchmark" a decade ago, but times are a helluva lot more competitve now, and they often find themselves chasing the benchmark as often as they "set" it. Case and point: the E64. When the E38 was getting old, Benz came out with its new S-class, and all the car mags were praising its technological innovations, gadgets, etc. Then BMW's E64 trumped that, and then the A8 came out, and all the techno-sophistication rheotirc was used then, too. Same goes for the E-class, 5er, and now with the A6. Mark my words: when the 06/07? S-Class comes out, all this benchmark talk will get recycled all over again, and I'm betting this will continue for the foreseeable future... ![[sing]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_sing.gif "Sing [sing]")
Wallie05 said:
We must be reading different magazines, because in the magazines I buy(Automobile, Car, C&D, etc.) every time a new model comes out, I often read: "[fill in auto here] raises the benchmark," or "this model sets a standard for [fill in name here] to beat," etc. The benchmark thing is cyclical...BMW may have "set the benchmark" a decade ago, but times are a helluva lot more competitve now, and they often find themselves chasing the benchmark as often as they "set" it. Case and point: the E64. When the E38 was getting old, Benz came out with its new S-class, and all the car mags were praising its technological innovations, gadgets, etc. Then BMW's E64 trumped that, and then the A8 came out, and all the techno-sophistication rheotirc was used then, too. Same goes for the E-class, 5er, and now with the A6. Mark my words: when the 06/07? S-Class comes out, all this benchmark talk will get recycled all over again, and I'm betting this will continue for the foreseeable future...
IMO anything over an E46 is a joke and a shame that they have the roundel on them. The 5 is the only one that still looks a little like a bmw.
It's all about competition
![[:)]](/images/smilies/smile.png "Smile [:)]")
As i was saying.
Wallie05 said:
We must be reading different magazines, because in the magazines I buy(Automobile, Car, C&D, etc.) every time a new model comes out, I often read: "[fill in auto here] raises the benchmark," or "this model sets a standard for [fill in name here] to beat," etc. The benchmark thing is cyclical...BMW may have "set the benchmark" a decade ago, but times are a helluva lot more competitve now, and they often find themselves chasing the benchmark as often as they "set" it. Case and point: the E64. When the E38 was getting old, Benz came out with its new S-class, and all the car mags were praising its technological innovations, gadgets, etc. Then BMW's E64 trumped that, and then the A8 came out, and all the techno-sophistication rheotirc was used then, too. Same goes for the E-class, 5er, and now with the A6. Mark my words: when the 06/07? S-Class comes out, all this benchmark talk will get recycled all over again, and I'm betting this will continue for the foreseeable future...
![[thumb]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_thumb.gif "Thumbs Up [thumb]"){kind=icon}
There are many ways that valve timing can be varied. The Rhoads lifter, as I understand it is for OHV engine, i.e. pushrod engine. Honda's VTEC is for OHC engines and uses a seperate camshaft for higher RPM, which makes it different than other VVT systems on OHC cars, including BMW's VANOS.
http://www.rhoadslifters.com/why.html
Honda was the first company to incorporate variable valve timing on a production car. Contrary to popular belief, that car was not the 1991 NSX, but the 1989 Civic SiR with the B16a engine (not available in the US) (IIRC). The NSX was the first car for the US market to have VTEC.
http://www.rhoadslifters.com/why.html
Honda was the first company to incorporate variable valve timing on a production car. Contrary to popular belief, that car was not the 1991 NSX, but the 1989 Civic SiR with the B16a engine (not available in the US) (IIRC). The NSX was the first car for the US market to have VTEC.
will iDrive get same reviews by you emile? ![[:p]](/images/smilies/tongue.png "Stick Out Tongue [:p]")
i agree w/ you to a degree, i don't know if you should take the fact that every car has a learning curve at face value tho. car getting a new car from point a to point b does not require a learning curve. don't get me wrong, i love new gadgets, but honestly, you bought a car, not a windows system. it's not a trend that like. i want the great new tech to be transparant, not in your face. (something like traction control that won't go off, no matter what!) hear that benz? (i just read an article on the clk 350, and you have to jump through hoops just to really turn the traction ctrl off. w/ it off, the car pulled .03g more on a skid as compared to on dash traction off indicator.
oh and on the automatics: the fact that new autos w/ better gearing are closing the gap in accel times btw auto/manual just goes to show what i was suspecting all along. it's not so much that autos rob you of power, its just that lack of extra gear or two makes it harder to extract best performance, while keeping the car sensible. yea, i know cat converts don't help much either.. but you get my point.. right?
i agree w/ you to a degree, i don't know if you should take the fact that every car has a learning curve at face value tho. car getting a new car from point a to point b does not require a learning curve. don't get me wrong, i love new gadgets, but honestly, you bought a car, not a windows system. it's not a trend that like. i want the great new tech to be transparant, not in your face. (something like traction control that won't go off, no matter what!) hear that benz? (i just read an article on the clk 350, and you have to jump through hoops just to really turn the traction ctrl off. w/ it off, the car pulled .03g more on a skid as compared to on dash traction off indicator.oh and on the automatics: the fact that new autos w/ better gearing are closing the gap in accel times btw auto/manual just goes to show what i was suspecting all along. it's not so much that autos rob you of power, its just that lack of extra gear or two makes it harder to extract best performance, while keeping the car sensible. yea, i know cat converts don't help much either.. but you get my point.. right?
wasn't that because of tech limitations? while having second set of cams for higher rpms made the engine breath much better at higher rpms to squeeze the "most" out of the engine at the time, when infinitely variable systems came out, every manufac dubbed their name on it one way or another, like VANOS, and VTTi for toyota, etc. (i just assumed that honda moved on to a similar system. since it's a way better implementation of variable timing tech.) above aren't exactly factual, so if you know otherwise, let me know ![[;)]](/images/smilies/wink.png "Wink [;)]")