Quote:
Originally Posted by CSBM5
#8 and #10 are the two biggies for those that are fanatic about driving enjoyment/autocrossing/tracking/etc, especially #10. I'm guessing as time moves on, BMW will continue to work on the EPS systems and perhaps eventually obtain levels of communication that their prior HPS systems did as you approach the peak and go over the top of the tire's tractive force/slip angle curve. The "connection" to the brain through that critical region of tire grip is where EPS systems, even on the F80, appear to be still a work-in-progress. I wouldn't be at all surprised if BMW releases s/w updates as time goes by and they learn more.
#8 is a bitch too since it's like a crutch to induce understeer by toe-ing in the rear outside tire on compression significantly. The feel to that back outside rear corner through the seat is probably one of "yuck", i.e. not precise, not well-defined. It's really the last thing you want going on for a high performance chassis.
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I agree with you on self-aligning torque, but toe-ing in the outside tire on compression has alot of advantages to stability and this is a suspension geometry setup. Meaning that if you want more neutrality in your handling, you can dial it in with tire and alignment settings or other tweaks...but you are still going to have a more stable rear-end which is going to perform better. The tire is going to focus better on keeping force moving forward.
Just my interpretation.
I'm really curious though how they altered these aspects for the f80.
I've driven a bunch of f30s. Wonderful vehicles. Best 3-series BMW has ever built, bar none. Is the steering feelsome? Nope - biggest drawback. But the chassis, steering ratio, and suspension setup is practically revolutionary from all prior models and in a very agile fashion. Might not make as good of a track vehicle - I can understand that perception - but it's a more fun and more stable every day driver IMHO.
One of the things that got me into an F80 was that the f30 was so wonderful and BMW put significant effort into making the steering into something special again. It's not special in the f80, but it's alot better than the f30.