Do you drive with the "M" button active?

[atxgt3]

I always hit the M button right after starting the car. It just feels lethargic if I don't have everything pretty maxed out. I do that in every car I own, I just prefer sharp throttle response, quick shifts, and a firm ride.

The only thing I don't have maxed out is the shifting, because with my exhaust and test pipes downshifts are a little much with the rev matching on the higher shift settings. I don't want to sound like a douche at every stop sign trying to get out of my neighborhood.

[EJT86]

Originally Posted by atxgt3

I always hit the M button right after starting the car. It just feels lethargic if I don't have everything pretty maxed out. I do that in every car I own, I just prefer sharp throttle response, quick shifts, and a firm ride.

The only thing I don't have maxed out is the shifting, because with my exhaust and test pipes downshifts are a little much with the rev matching on the higher shift settings. I don't want to sound like a douche at every stop sign trying to get out of my neighborhood.

You haven't just had the car downshift for you in those instances? I only have an axle back but it's a lil loud for just a rear section and I don't notice it get loud if the car downshifts for me or if I downshift at like 1500 and lower. I always use M mode too and keep it quiet in the neighborhood like you

[DSilk]

I wait for the engine to come up to temperature before I hit the M button, but only because acceleration is a bit jerky with "M" mode engaged with a cold engine. It doesn't take long for warm up in South Florida, however.

[doogee]

I personally hate the Power button ON, and need to find a way to disable the servotronic streering. It's far too sharp for higher speed track use.

No M button for me so that makes changing the steering difficult.

[8600RPM]

You can't program sport servo or sport plus throttle in start up settings so if you want those the only way to go is using m button

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by doogee

I personally hate the Power button ON, and need to find a way to disable the servotronic streering. It's far too sharp for higher speed track use.

No M button for me so that makes changing the steering difficult.

What do you mean disable the servotronic steering? The steering has two settings: Normal and Sport. There's no "Off". Without an aftermarket tune, only Normal can be used outside of M Mode, but inside M Mode, you can select whether you want to use Normal or Sport, so maybe just change your M Drive settings and use those settings at the track. Or if neither of those settings is to your liking, talk to someone like Mike Benvo about a tune to further adjust it.

Note that those settings will only adjust the amount of steering assist, not the steering ratio, which is fixed at 12.5:1. If that's what you mean when you say the steering is too sharp, you'd need an aftermarket steering rack to change that, though I haven't seen anything like that mentioned on these forums for the E9x M3 before.

[doogee]

Originally Posted by jphughan

What do you mean disable the servotronic steering? The steering has two settings: Normal and Sport. There's no "Off". Without an aftermarket tune, only Normal can be used outside of M Mode, but inside M Mode, you can select whether you want to use Normal or Sport, so maybe just change your M Drive settings and use those settings at the track. Or if neither of those settings is to your liking, talk to someone like Mike Benvo about a tune to further adjust it.

Note that those settings will only adjust the amount of steering assist, not the steering ratio, which is fixed at 12.5:1. If that's what you mean when you say the steering is too sharp, you'd need an aftermarket steering rack to change that, though I haven't seen anything like that mentioned on these forums for the E9x M3 before.

What I meant was the steering is much better when cruising around in "Normal". I do believe the steering rack is far too sharp on these cars as well. And don't get me started on the steering wheel thickness

Oh well, feels great ripping around town, just not ideal at the track.

Unfortunately I have no way to change the default because I don't have M Drive.

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by doogee

What I meant was the steering is much better when cruising around in "Normal". I do believe the steering rack is far too sharp on these cars as well. And don't get me started on the steering wheel thickness

Oh well, feels great ripping around town, just not ideal at the track.

Unfortunately I have no way to change the default because I don't have M Drive.

In that case, why not just NOT use M Drive on track so you have Normal steering there? Or do you want MDM on track?

Yeah, the steering wheel thickness took me a while to adjust to when I got mine, and then it took me a while to adjust to not having when I switched to my GT4. But after an initial adjustment period, I've found that I don't really think about steering wheel thickness either way. The fast steering rack I actually found came in handy on the track because even in hairpin turns I had to do little to no "feeding" of the wheel through my hands. Apparently Ferraris have even faster racks though, like 10:1. For reference, the E9x non-M I think is 16:1 unless you have the rare Active Steering option, which varies the ratio from I think 12:1 up to 18:1 based on road speed (I think; it's been a while since I read up on it.)

[doogee]

Originally Posted by jphughan

In that case, why not just NOT use M Drive on track so you have Normal steering there? Or do you want MDM on track?

Yeah, the steering wheel thickness took me a while to adjust to when I got mine, and then it took me a while to adjust to not having when I switched to my GT4. But after an initial adjustment period, I've found that I don't really think about steering wheel thickness either way. The fast steering rack I actually found came in handy on the track because even in hairpin turns I had to do little to no "feeding" of the wheel through my hands. Apparently Ferraris have even faster racks though, like 10:1. For reference, the E9x non-M I think is 16:1 unless you have the rare Active Steering option, which varies the ratio from I think 12:1 up to 18:1 based on road speed (I think; it's been a while since I read up on it.)

Like I mentioned before, I don't have M Drive.

The rack feels great on smaller tracks. But I took the car to Mosport last week where average cornering speeds are in the 140-160km/h range.

[spiderspider]

Originally Posted by doogee

I personally hate the Power button ON, and need to find a way to disable the servotronic streering. It's far too sharp for higher speed track use.

No M button for me so that makes changing the steering difficult.

servotronic is easy to disable. unplug the connector in the drivers side wheel well

[dparm]

Originally Posted by monterey

Do you use the M button the moment you start your car? Any harm in using it all the time?

No, I go to the track when I want to hoon the car and drive at 10/10ths. EDC stays in comfort mode and everything else at "normal" on public roads.