Quote:
Originally Posted by footie
It was at best only an opinion swamp, not biggie.
But lets look at the fact to see how sure you are about the new CSL easily beating the old one. To start with the E46 M3's ring time of 8:22 was done with very inferior tyres then is available today, I remember reading somewhere that later on with more modern tyres (which still wouldn't have been the equivalent to the PS2s which the new M3 used in it's run) the E46 M3 did improve this to 8:14, that's still 9 seconds slower but then again it is down on PTW by 29hp (depending on who provides the quote). Now many people still regard the old CSL Michelin Cup tyres better for dry grip than the new ones so it will come down to chassis to find the improvement plus it's extra power.
So what is a realistic power output for the new CSL? I reckon unless the capacity increases 450hp (based on the last model's 110hp/litre that would only be an output of 440hp), would you agree with that or are you of the opinion that more might be achieved. Secondly the weight, this time round the roof is already CF, the front wings are plastic and the bonnet is alloy, so I can believe we will see a similar improvement that the old model had over the normal M3 unless it's price is to go sky high and mountains of CF is used. So I reckon a weight drop of 80Kgs is more realistic.
So the question is, can an improvement of 30hp and 80kgs less weight with what ever else BMW provide it's chassis really improve it's time by 14 seconds in the hands of the SportAuto test driver?
P.S.
I do reckon the car is capable of a better time than the old car but if the GTR's two times are anything to go by (7:38-factory vs 7:50-SportAuto) I would have thought BMW would want to make doubly sure of it before releasing it to the press and public alike.
|
I'm sure.
Let's get the facts straight.
1. The E46 M3 N'ring laptime was achieved with one of the two tires that the car came with stock either the Michelin Pilot Sport or a Continental ContiSport Contact. Both of which are top of the line ultra high performance tires. I suspect it was run with the MPS. Michelin has only slightly revised it's best tire now the PS2 instead of the PS. The only stickier Michelin road tires are PSC and PSC+.
2. The 8:05 N'Ring time of the E92 M3 was using MPSC+ not PS2.
3. The 7:50 SA GT-R time is preliminary. It will very likely post better than that for its official number.
A low figure for the CSLs power is probably 440, could be 450-460. I have posted my reasoning behind this on other threads. I do agree that weight savings is going to be more difficult in the E92 than the E46. Despite being fairly heavy the E92 M3 has a lot of weight savings trickery like that you mentioned as well as tons of hollow shafting like axles, sways and even engine components.
If they lose only 200 lb (E46 CSL lost 361 over base model) and brought the hp to only 440 the power to weight (weight to power...) would be 8.3 lb/hp compared to the CSL at 8.5. And yes the CSL is likely to still get the absolutely stickiest Michelin street tire the PSC. Lastly, the CSL will likely be available with M-DCT only. Remembering our little regression analysis puts this hypothetical CSL 5 seconds ahead of the existing CSL.
Just like BMW would not release a new M3 only a touch faster around the Ring than the old M3, neither would they do the same for the CSL, period.
Knowing nothing more my bet is for <7:45 for the E92 M3 CSL