I have similar feelings about my 435i. I have the manual, and I love it (it’s a sublime manual) when driving at brisk road pace. But the second I get stuck in rush hour or really push the drivetrain, I find myself wondering if I’d have been better off with the ZF 8HP. Technically an auto, but it shifts at close-to-DCT…

Not a dead end; functionally identical to BMW’s Valvetronic, which has been all over their lineup for the past 10 years and shows no signs of going away.

I granted that point. All I’m saying is that the SR-71 couldn’t pull off a Herbst Maneuver or Pugachev’s Cobra. An A-10 is better than both at low-and-slow CAS. They’re all excellent airframes that are designed for very different purposes.

Horses for courses. Sure, the F-22 would be left eating the SR-71’s afterburner, but the Raptor would run circles around the Blackbird.

The Z3 was internally the E36/7, the E85 Z4 was based on the E46, and the E89 Z4 was based on the E90.

Also, the Z2 has been saved for something more Miata-like than the Z4. Smaller, lighter, etc.

A turbo, for reference.

Is it just me... or does this look more like a GT2 than a Turbo?

BMW does a V12 (760Li/Rolls-Royce Everything) and VAG does W12s (A8, Bentley Contis)

Uh... guys... The GT3 is staying NA.

So for those of you complaining that there won't be a stripped down, back to basics NA 911, there will. And it will cost an arm and a leg. And it will be glorious.

I'm 90% sure that it's standard on the Cayman S and probably the Cayman. It got stripped out of the GT4 because weight.

Come to upper and upper-middle class suburbia. Lexus RX's are one of the most popular choices for your average soccer mom.

To all of y'all who are commenting on the ludicrous HP/L on this thing, remember that you can buy a 2.0L turbocharged I4 with 355hp/332lb-ft hooked up to AWD and a 7-speed dual clutch gearbox.

It's just from... Mercedes, of all companies. But hey, you want the most brutal stock 4 cylinder on the market? There ya go.

Jalops really don't want a no-option 320i. You really, really want that sports package for the seats and suspension.

You do realize that the automakers put out map updates, usually on an annual basis?

Phones are great and all, but I'll take the integration that on-board nav has with other vehicle systems over having a tiny, inconveniently placed screen that slaughters my phone's battery.

I wanted to like this thing. I really did. But I'm just left underwhelmed. In European trim, it's at least got the stupid light/4-wheeled motorcycle/track day car thing going for it. But in US trim? Not seeing it.

The W211 E55's had 469hp and 520lb-ft of torque, stock. I think you're thinking of the previous E55 (the W210).

Either one would probably be good to beat a stock 350Z, though I'm betting only the W211 could do it while hauling a lawn mower.

Apparently some modern built-in GPS systems in cars use dead reckoning (like the Gyro-Cator) to supplement the GPS when it loses signal (cities, tunnels, valleys, etc). Difference is that nowadays they can pull wheel speed and steering angle off of the CAN bus. Pretty cool stuff.

Alright, maybe I'm in the minority here... but to me, the advantage of automatic wipers isn't turning themselves on/off, it's that the speed is automatic. If I'm driving along in a light rain and the bottom suddenly falls out, the rain sensor catches that and throws the wipers into overdrive faster than I could,…

The Fords use a slight loophole. Basically, as far as the USDOT is concerned, only one of those lights are actually the turn signal (I think it's the middle one, I'm not sure), as it is sufficient size, brightness, and duty cycle to meet the requirements for a turn signal. The other two lights have absolutely zero…

Or, you can Euro-size the racecar, too!