Truth about using Kickdown?

65fastback · 06-04-2020, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 65fastback

My M4 is stock.... as in no tune.

Both my challenger and corvettes were manuals which is why i say my dct m4 is quicker. The challenger was a PIG. A stock c7 with the A8 trans would put up a good fight to a stock M4, thats a coin toss drivers race.

in fact on paper... the corvette wins easily with more torque/horspower and lighter than a M4 M3.

bsmf8x · 06-04-2020, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 65fastback

in fact on paper... the corvette wins easily with more torque/horspower and lighter than a M4 M3.

BMW's especially F8x are underrated from the factory compared to American cars in terms of how much wheel horsepower they put down on a dyno

elitex · 06-05-2020, 11:30 AM

Why buy a car like this if you're afraid of using kick down or redlining or using Launch control? I don't get it. There are so many analogies you can use like not banging your hot GF etc etc.

deeldoo · 06-05-2020, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murdrdf82

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomlong

Yes sir, if you're gonna drive it hard then you must equally spend the effort and $$$ to take car of the car. They are reliable and will provide you with many smiles per gallon, only in tip top form. You get what you give.

Here is my comprehensive answer to your question: https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1707024

Short answer: Do not skip on maintenance and consumables to maximize longevity. I bought mine right at 29k miles too like you and she feels stronger, faster, and more reliable today at 74k miles. We're about to go to the dark side soon too

Yes, the brake rotors are stout and the system works well. Still on my first set of rotors but first set of brake pads triggered the wear sensor at ~50k miles for me. I'm on my 2nd set of OEM pads. Brake pads and sensor go for about $500 at the dealership. The compound is aggressive so expect a lot of brake dust. You'll be an expert at cleaning your wheels owning this car

I see guys here drop $10k on mods, post their dyno video, then go silent because their car broke down as a result of likely under investment into maintenance or inadequate prep prior to adding horsepower.

I probably have spent a lot of $$$ just on running premium motor oil (I use Red Line 5w50) every 5k (I change the oil filter even more frequently every 2.5k miles

). Red Line is ~$150 for 7 qt itself but worth every penny. When I go E85 I'll be doing oil changes every 3k miles going forward. You got to pay to play as the cliche goes.

Car is also on the verge of it's 3rd spark plug change, I try to do them every 30k miles, or before a major upgrade. I recommend NGKs, which are one step colder than stock even if you are not tuned. You'll feel the difference.

The Liquid Moly Ceramic Engine Wear Treatment is good too. I used it the other day and I noticed my motor ran smoother and quieter. I also pour a bottle of Red Line Water Wetter into the coolant (which was flushed at ~65k miles) as the summer means heat soak.

Car has received 4-5 alignments and is currently on it's 3rd set of Michelin PS tires. So yes, it all adds up, not to mention the daily trips to the pump, but I am at 74k miles today without a single engine issue, knocks on wood.

While the engine has not had any issues. User error like busting my oil cooler going fast over a bump, or punctured tire going over a big pothole may and can happen. These things are to be expected especially if you're driving the car hard everyday. Oh, forgot to mention I'm on my 2nd carbon fiber front lip as well

Hopes this helps. You'll love this car. I know I do and have no plans to ever part from it.

Thanks for your thorough response. My biggest issue with a used BMW like this is I hate leaving my car at the dealer or shop for a week or two or even longer sometimes as I have an extremely busy schedule so I'll be ubering or getting rides as if you don't purchase a car from the dealership, you aren't guaranteed a loaner.

A family members Alfa Romeo Giulia (2.0) has been at the dealer for over 2 weeks just for a coolant leak with no loaner as they're heavily backed up; if it wasn't for coronavirus and him not having the same commitments as usual, he'd be screwed.

I know getting a BMW when I need a reliable car 7 days a week for the next few years isn't ideal, but I have an extended aftermarket warranty to cover repairs it's just about dealing with not having a car in my driveway for long periods of time that is my only concern with this car as I'm young and my career/work is the priority.

Anyways, thanks for your help and I was wondering if it's really beneficial to use premium oil & plugs on a stock car. I drive relatively hard, no track days but probably a WOT pull almost everyday. I was planning on running everything OEM in terms of maintenance as there's numerous certified BMW shops near me that do work for cheaper than dealer prices using OEM parts and certified BMW techs.

Are colder plugs really going to be beneficial for a stock car? I'd feel safer just using OEM plugs and OEM oil. I'd change oil every 6k as well and plugs every 30k.

This might be a specific question, but what settings do you drive on for daily driving? Putting all those miles on an M car as a daily without any issues still amazes me.

Also, I saw you had Michelin Pilot Sport As3+ on your car at one point. In terms of straight line traction, is it far off from the stock MPSS? and is the car driveable in light snow? Meaning snow is sticking to the ground maybe a few inches one or two but nothing crazy piled up. I've seen mixed reviews regarding this.

Lastly, I've seen nothing about changing coolant on this car. Is doing a coolant flush and replacing the fluid a thing? Thanks again.

Regardless what tires you use in the snow, the car does not receive traction turning even with semi light throttle inputs.

But it is super fun here in canada, you can kick the back end out every corner at low speeds and its just pure bliss.

Btw i have michelin alpine p4 winter tires, probably one of if not the best winter tire you can get and it is still useless in snow.

Where the winters excel is on dry or wet pavement in cold conditions as the compound sticks.

65fastback · 06-05-2020, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murdrdf82;26270231[B

]BMW's especially F8x are underrated from the factory compared to American cars [/B]in terms of how much wheel horsepower they put down on a dyno

Yeah ive herd this for years...and thats pretty much what i said has been my personal experience since ive owned both.

I dont street race but i do bracket race my mustang. my little 363 N/a small block motor makes little over 500 at the crank and runs 10.80's at 123-124 mph currently. Sounds like F8x's with a stage 1 tune run a similar trap speeds in good conditions.

Humdizzle · 06-05-2020, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elitex

Why buy a car like this if you're afraid of using kick down or redlining or using Launch control? I don't get it. There are so many analogies you can use like not banging your hot GF etc etc.

because its really not that fast off a launch if you've ever experienced a 911, gtr, telsa, modified evo/sti.

front engine / rwd is fading out for this reason. new corvette is mid engine and the next M3 is awd. but from a purist standpoint and cornering / sliding / scaring me the F8x is great. I love flooring it in second with traction off and wrestling with it to keep it in a straight line. (im stage 1)

elitex · 06-05-2020, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Humdizzle

Quote:

Originally Posted by elitex

Why buy a car like this if you're afraid of using kick down or redlining or using Launch control? I don't get it. There are so many analogies you can use like not banging your hot GF etc etc.

because its really not that fast off a launch if you've ever experienced a 911, gtr, telsa, modified evo/sti.

front engine / rwd is fading out for this reason. new corvette is mid engine and the next M3 is awd. but from a purist standpoint and cornering / sliding / scaring me the F8x is great. I love flooring it in second with traction off and wrestling with it to keep it in a straight line. (im stage 1)

True but not just about speed. It's fun, it's part of owning a sports coupe or a sports car. Launching 2wd 911 was fun! It had a crazy high rpm launch so it was loud and aggressive. To me it's not about numbers, it's how much fun I am having.

Kilabyte · 06-05-2020, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 65fastback

in fact on paper... the corvette wins easily with more torque/horspower and lighter than a M4 M3.

I've pulled on an auto C7 and my car is a 6-speed. I had a stage 1 Burger piggyback. I have it on video

BzsBimmer · 06-05-2020, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kilabyte

I've pulled on an auto C7 and my car is a 6-speed. I had a stage 1 Burger piggyback. I have it on video

Can’t be proven until you post that vid ;-)

Kilabyte · 06-05-2020, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BzsBimmer

Can’t be proven until you post that vid ;-)

Sorry for crappy quality, new 4k 2ch dashcam is something I've been planning on doing for a while.

Humdizzle · 06-05-2020, 04:43 PM

well i don't think the vette was really trying in the above video. But here is a dinan tune vs a stock z51. its close. and the dinan tune is very conservative. i think a dct m4 with a bm3 tune would get the job done vs 8AT vette.

deeldoo · 06-05-2020, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 65fastback

Quote:

Originally Posted by murdrdf82;26270231[B

]BMW's especially F8x are underrated from the factory compared to American cars [/B]in terms of how much wheel horsepower they put down on a dyno

Yeah ive herd this for years...and thats pretty much what i said has been my personal experience since ive owned both.

I dont street race but i do bracket race my mustang. my little 363 N/a small block motor makes little over 500 at the crank and runs 10.80's at 123-124 mph currently. Sounds like F8x's with a stage 1 tune run a similar trap speeds in good conditions.

This aint it, german horses are just more powerful, american horses are lazy

65fastback · 06-07-2020, 01:31 PM

So anyway...from the responses ive seen it appears there is no proof using the kickdown is causing any mechanical problems such as SCH.

Thats all i was after.

The end.

CanAutM3 · 06-07-2020, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by six75LT

since we're on this topic....

1) is it bad to downshift a few gears quickly? like from 7th to 4th? lets say you pull the paddle 2 times with a <1 sec delay each time?

2) is it bad to downshift while giving gas (not WOT)?

A 1 second delay isn’t “pulling the paddles quickly”, by doing so (with a one second delay between each pull), the DCT will go down gears one by one. No issue with doing that.

If you pull the paddle multiple times in rapid succession, the DCT will skip gears directly to the one you selected. No issue with doing that either.

You can do whatever you want, off throttle, part throttle, full throttle, the ECU will manage the downshift so no harm is done to the powertrain.

Walmart Parking Lot · 06-11-2020, 08:29 PM

My balls weren't big enough to do a kick down when I was stock without the crank hub done.

I got the Maximum PSI 4-pin crank hub with the VTT CBC and I'm Stage 2 and I've been doing kick downs like crazy. Feels so gooooooood

65fastback · 06-13-2020, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walmart Parking Lot

My balls weren't big enough to do a kick down when I was stock without the crank hub done.

I got the Maximum PSI 4-pin crank hub with the VTT CBC and I'm Stage 2 and I've been doing kick downs like crazy. Feels so gooooooood

Why such a wussy bro?

This is why i started this thread because i saw people posting this type of stuff....yet not one person has delivered any proof that using the kickdown alot or little on a STOCK car ( never seen a tune ) will end up with a SCH.

Walmart Parking Lot · 06-13-2020, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 65fastback

Why such a wussy bro?

This is why i started this thread because i saw people posting this type of stuff....yet not one person has delivered any proof that using the kickdown alot or little on a STOCK car ( never seen a tune ) will end up with a SCH.

Although there isn't hard proof (that I know of) that kickdowns spin the crank hub, I wanted to err on the side of caution.

e90coast · 06-13-2020, 11:41 PM

I use kickdown and launch control on stage one with 0 problem.

kmouze · 06-14-2020, 01:11 AM

I kickdown 24/7 yo. YOLO. KICKDOWN OR BUST

06-05-2020, 11:30 AM	#69
elitex . 1231 Rep 1,918 Posts Drives: 22 M8C Coupe, 21 X5MC Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Atlanta iTrader: (0) Garage List 2020 Mercedes C63S ... [0.00] 2021 X5M Competition [0.00]	Why buy a car like this if you're afraid of using kick down or redlining or using Launch control? I don't get it. There are so many analogies you can use like not banging your hot GF etc etc. __________________ Previous 21 X5M MBB, 20 Evora GT, 20 C63S Coupe,19 X5 50i, 18 Giulia QV, 18 M5, 17 Evora 400, 18 LX570, 17 GT350,18 M4 Comp,17 R8 V10 ,17 M3 Comp,17 GT350,16 Escalade Plat ESV, 16 570S,16 911 GTS,15 M5, 15 LX570, 13 M5,13 Viper,14 Cayman S,13 M3,13 S4,10 RX8,12 A4,10 G37, 04 Mini Cooper S, 08 Scion TC, 06 Altima V6, 05 Altima, 01 Altima, 00 Altima, 94 Explorer, 92 Toyota Pickup, 98 Altima
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06-05-2020, 04:43 PM	#77
Humdizzle Brigadier General 6045 Rep 3,617 Posts Drives: GT3 + M2c Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Missouri iTrader: (0)	well i don't think the vette was really trying in the above video. But here is a dinan tune vs a stock z51. its close. and the dinan tune is very conservative. i think a dct m4 with a bm3 tune would get the job done vs 8AT vette.
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06-07-2020, 01:31 PM	#79
65fastback Captain 1137 Rep 822 Posts Drives: every day Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: seattle iTrader: (2)	So anyway...from the responses ive seen it appears there is no proof using the kickdown is causing any mechanical problems such as SCH. Thats all i was after. The end.
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06-11-2020, 08:29 PM	#81
Walmart Parking Lot Cart Attendant 104 Rep 366 Posts Drives: Shopping Cart Comp Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Southern California iTrader: (1)	My balls weren't big enough to do a kick down when I was stock without the crank hub done. I got the Maximum PSI 4-pin crank hub with the VTT CBC and I'm Stage 2 and I've been doing kick downs like crazy. Feels so gooooooood
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06-13-2020, 11:41 PM	#84
e90coast Private First Class 28 Rep 189 Posts Drives: m4 Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Southern California iTrader: (0)	I use kickdown and launch control on stage one with 0 problem.
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06-14-2020, 01:11 AM	#85
kmouze Second Lieutenant 194 Rep 239 Posts Drives: 02' RSX TYPE-S \| 18' M3 ZCP Join Date: Oct 2019 Location: Bay Area, CA iTrader: (7)	I kickdown 24/7 yo. YOLO. KICKDOWN OR BUST
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