[IEDEI]

F30 328i: gutless, uninteresting, and completely unresponsive in any way. i thought the E90/E92 328i was pretty boring to drive a few years ago....but this was much much worse.

[hudamang]

Drove some fun cars in the past year. I wish I had any of these in the garage....

2012 Jaguar XKR: Really smooth and fast. Great GT car and I would pick this car for a nice long weekend drive. Engine doesn't rev loud compared to the cars below.

2013 Porsche 911 C S: I love this car. Fast, nice sounding engine, fast enough to be an elite sports car...comfortable enough to be a daily driver. If this was a vert, I might pick it as my car for long nice weekend drives.

2012 Lamborghini LP570 Spyder: Freakin beasty. I'm not a fan of the seats/alcantara? Probably more of a car you take to the track but it doesn't feel comfortable. Nice sounding engine though! Beautiful looks but the ride was stiff and the car felt heavy. shifts weren't smooth but the sound, the looks made this a fun car to drive. Makes me want to drive the Aventador.

2012 Ferrari 458 Italia: Even though it's probably a classic color: Red with Tan interior, I'm not a fan of the interior color. If I were forced to buy a Ferrari, I'd get black interior By far the most amazing car I've ever driven. If this was a 100 pointer, the Lambo gets an 85. The shifts are so smooth, so fast....and with the high revs, it sounds so amazing. The acceleration was phenomenal. The looks are great and the evolution of the 360 to 430 to this is beautiful. Each new model makes the previous one look so dated. I want this car in my garage if I won the lotto.

Scion FRS: Fun lil car with nice handling. Took me a lil while to figure how to get the damn shifter to reverse...(You have to pull it up first and then put to R). Not enough power but I don't take my cars to the track either.

BMW 335d: Borrowed this for a month while family was out of the country. The torque is fun but the revs are way too low. I personally prefer the acceleration of the G37 and the interior but the cornering was much better in the 335d...or at least it felt that way. I think it's funny that people run over to tell me the green nozzle I'm about to shove in the car is diesel and I have to explain that the car takes diesel.

I still think of that Ferrari whenever I drive. I'm hoping the M4 will bring me some of that enjoyment.

[F1Venom]

With the turbo engine in the M4, I very much doubt it will feel like a Ferrari. Apparently the S65 V8 from the E9x M3 is pretty close though.

[mxa121]

only test drove two cars this year

2012 Scion FRS - was the new kid out, decent price, looks good (would have gotten the BRZ). Interior was mid grade, kind of juvenile but decent for a sub $30k car. Back seats small but usable. Handling was amazing and flat, it would take a lot to shake it up. Engine....was the deal breaker. Very slow and sounded terrible. end test drive.

2012 335i coupe - blown away, loved the cabin size and feel. Great seats, loved the idrive/nav. Power and handling were impressive given the comfort level. Sounded good but not loud. Looked good. I had researched this car extensively before test drive and this 5 mile journey confirmed my desire.

Found a 2010 6MT M sport and bought it.

[StealYourFace]

2006 Cayman S- Wow. Had an aftermarket exhaust, the car was so quick, balanced and fun. Felt like I was part of the car. Interior was a little cheesy, a thin vinyl large diameter steering wheel was the only thing I didn't like.

2002 Z06- Another wow. The car was a rocketship. The induction sound was amazing, great handling and feel. Felt like I would never outgrow the cars power and ability at hpde events. The car had only 30k miles on it and it felt very well put together. For $20k there's no better bargain on the market. Yes the seats sucked but that can be fixed. I was pleasently suprised with the outward visability. Don't know how often I would get into that instead of my 330i on a day to day basis though.

[BMWM3DREAM]

BMW 428i M Sport coupe: Did not like it at all, still wasnt used to the car after test driving it, just felt bland and amazingly disconnected from the road

[swanson]

I test drove a 2014 E63 AMG-S last week. Loved it.

[BMWM3DREAM]

Is anyone else able to write a short report or review on a car they have have driven recently?

[CarReviewBMW]

Originally Posted by TheRox

I want to test drive the M3...and I think given my tendencies...I would feel the following about it:

1. Its suspension and steering should and probably would be way more taught and responsive than the sluggish 335 xdrive i have

2. no turbo lag...i completely dislike turbo engines...they are not a pure driving experience (from all my reading, the GT3 seems like my kind of thing)...I like pure, connectedness...no turbo, no clutch delay valve...direct connection to the road

--overall I think i'd love that car...I don't need much torque down low in the city, i don't mind downshifting....i like turbo's torque on the highway though...but V8 should be able to deliver that even if naturally aspirated.

issues:
1. V-8: inline 6 is smoother and more balanced...I think I would like the engine on the old m3

2. none...maybe the ride is harsh in some areas, but you can't win them all




Yea those test drives, esp of the upper luxury segments vehicles (the BMW and Benz were actually requested, with the S550 being taken out of the showroom)...these were not for me, but for family purchase.

Panamera obviously won out and is being ordered.


also test drove and didn't include (some of these were a summer ago, some this summer);

bmw X5 lci - I don't do SUVs, which is why i didin't include it in my last post. I threw it around a corner, it handles it well...but its an SUV...I can't comment anymore...it was big, like a boat, with little road feel.

Lexus LS 460 - Test driven this car 4 or 5 times!!! Amazing car for reliability and it completely isolates you from the road; not my thing, but if you want to cruise like an S class...this is the ultimate S class copycat (typical Japanese) -- it is 90% of what the S class is minus the class, panache and sense of occasion. No road presence either.

For this money, you're better off with an S550; still I respect the LS 460 for what it is, and its reliability for those who can't afford to keep an S550 running for 10 years

Lexus GS 350 AWD - This isn't a bad car...somehow its just out of place; its not as good as a 5-series bmw...and i'm not sure about its reliability; again, it has that lexus ZERO road presence....so its a decent car, handles quite well for a japanese car; it is still disconnected from the road; has beautiful engine and good brakes that I tested thoroughly on the 401 in Toronto -- just feels out of place, not sure why you'd buy one with the 5 series right there

Audi S4 - HOnestly, the badge is cheap...its a VW. As a car, its not the driver's car BMW is...but is the next best thing, good supercharged engine (and I dislike forced induction), I drove the autobox. Looks bland, audis will always be out of style (except R8) in a few years....they simply don't have much road presence. Overall, if you have BMW, why buy Audi? Plus their reliability is horrible.

Above all -- the S4's steering was horrible, it really did lack feel, that is probably the biggest complaint relative to BMW

interior - i dislike depressing hues of grey and black, so I wasn't pleased...I prefer BMW's browns and beige

Audi A4 - This is complete rubbish; laggy 4 cylinder engine, cheap feeling interior with thin metal doors....it was really really really bad; I mean for this money, get a C class or 3 series with AWD for the winter states. A4 is really pathetic piece of automotive engineering. Really does feel like a cheap VW. Plus no road presence. I will concede it does draw that halfway point between BMW and Mercedes when it comes to driver involvement/luxury; it cushions you a bit, but does give you some road feedback -- I guess this is why AUdi sells...its a halfway point between BMW and Mercedes, and that is fair.

BMW 3 series 328i 6mt - one of the BEST cars I have EVER driven. period. Not sure why I got the 335 over this...I guess I wanted the power the 328 couldn't give me...but the 328 is much more PURE driving experience with 6mt...no turbo lag, and that means SO much!

Also my greatest test drive, the guy I was with was about to leave the dealership (I didn't know this)...so I blasted the car around the city -- I drove it like I stole it and he said it was the best test drive he'd ever been on.

He left the dealership the next week or something like that.

mazda 3 - economy car, nice steering. that is all.
honda civic - not what they used to be, big and bulky, slow 4 cyl engine
honda accord - nothing like the 1992 beauty I had; now they are fat, slow and unrepsonsive...they used to shoot out of the blocks b/c they were featherweight

Infiniti G37 coupe 6mt and AT - AT was useless. The 6 MT was damn fun!!! It felt like a track car, so raw...so raw...so raw, it gave my passenger a headache by the time I was finished blasting around the city on the test drive. The shifting wasn't so bad, handling very sharp....but here is the key: its not a LUXURY car...the G37 is a PERFORMANCE car...it simply isn't refined and I cannot live with it day to day...I need luxury.

Dynamically though, very very sound car. Engine was good...I prefer naturally aspirated because its purer, so I'm gonna say it was a very good engine.

Mercedes Benz E-Class coupe - Based on the current C class platform (not the new E); it was rubbish; but DAMNNNNN luxurious...not a timeless style either on the outside; insulated ride; old engine, but powerful, naturally aspirated meant it was responsive

not a bad car...for those looking for more insulation, its actually quite nice with great status and presence

Mercedes C350 4matic - honestly BEnz (S class aside) is not my thing; but for entry level luxury, C class isn't bad for the driver who wants to be isolated. Engine is decent, though old; it is isolated from teh road; but i assume the buyer wants that; has tons of creature comfort

one thing -- please don't get this car in the depressing black colour scheme...feel like slitting your wrist moment you get in; still best interior in class and looks nice

not a driver's car in any way

Problem with C class: A benz this small is just a joke...we have the B-class here in Canada...somehow a small Mercedes-Benz just doesn't compute...it looks like you cheaped out and couldn't afford the E (which is an inferior car) or the S (which is the best large luxury sedan in the world)

Lexus IS 250 manual 6mt - this was the biggest joke of them all...decent japanese toy-like interior; but the ride, pathetic - weight balance is NOT 50/50, the rear end was swaying on the highway; the gear shift was pathetic, with the bite too high and the shifts insulated

steering lacked road feel and the car had no power.

looks kinda cute though in a girly way

not a fan...lexus truly are copycats, and copycats only get so far.

Lexus ES350 - pathetic car based on the camry platform; steering was so poor you could turn a little left and right, and the car still tracks straight. really bad car for that kind of cash.

Lexus RX 350 new model - again, not an SUV person. Seemed kinda soft on the inside; I really don't know what to say. Handling was better than the ES 350, even though they are both based on camry's platform...but thast it. I'm sure a Mercedes SUV could do better.

BMW 525i 6 MT - YES I drove a 5 series 525 with manual! It was off lease. It was...kinda fun, beautiful naturally aspirated engine...but not enough power, I got smoked by some north american boat on the test drive...still not bad. Interior nothing great, dynamically pretty decent, but not as good as the 3 series.


I can't remember my other test drives. I did a lot of these while looking for my car (ended up with 335xi 6mt) and for family car, some like mustang where just for fun.



Overall most memorable cars I ever driven, in order:

1. Porsche carerra 911 - Just wow...wasn't even the S variant, powertrain is so strong; the connection to the road is so true; this is the next step as driver; I recommend everyone test drive a 911!

2. Porsche Panamera 4S and 4 - Wow...not as WOW as the 911, but a little close. The steering the steering the steering...the handling of this car is beyond words for something with 4 doors! And two engines are naturally aspirated...which seems to be going the way of the dodo.

Those who understand Porsche, know that Porsche is not about power but about handling...it is about driving finesse. You don't need to be going fast to enjoy a Porsche (or a BMW, which is considered entry level Porsche). And that handling is on display with this 4 door Panamera.

2. BMW 328i/335i - 328 with its naturally aspirated engine and 6MT and RWD still stands out as a pure car; very pure driving experience; 335i was good too, I have one...not as pure, but nice power and torque.


Honourable mentions
1. Mercedes S class -- you are the king in this!

2. Lexus LS -- not a bad car if it cost 1/2 its asking price; it is simply a copycat car, and doesn't do everything the S class, doesn't have a sense of occasion; but you could do a million miles in this while listening to music. This car is very very easy to drive. Despite the isolation, the copycat pretensions, and the lack of presence and panache...there is something attractive and soothing about this thing.

Great review bro.

Let me share my experience with you too.

Test drove a

BMW 328I:
Horrible interior. Cheap looking plastic that screams 20,000 instead of 46,000. Overrated speed and performance. Looks bland. The new Lexus IS got 10 times the stares and love.

BMW 528I:
No wonder the car magazines have been placing the GS above the 5 Series for Driver car experience. Surreal lack of feel. Decent power I guess. If you want to spend 60k on a 30k car. It's perfect.

BMW M3:
Stupid man's ISF.

BMW X3:
Copycat of the best selling Lexus RX350. I can see why Lexus triples BMW in this segment. Copycat.

BMW 1 Series: Cool little car.

[sirhawes]

A4 - pretty good but not as fast as i would have liked, handling was okay, i couldnt notice any understeer pushing it down off-ramps. Fantastic sound system when opting for the b&o
C350 - Terrible. Seats killed my back after 5 minutes of driving. Cheap interior. Stupid button setup, bad nav. Hated it
328i f30 - Loved the balance or the ride, handling, power, and this was the first car to ever make me smile/laugh while gunning it and drifting, spirited driving in general.
ATS - nice interior but nav sucked and wasnt much for exterior styling. Dont get me started on the either tranny. Garbage
CTS - same deal as ats but weighs in roughly about the same as the moon
Last gen 535i - decent driving characteristics but felt a bit too big and heavy.
E350 - same deal as c-class but more expensive. Terrible seats
Camaro ss - not what i was looking for, boring really. I expected a bigger smile out of a muscle car
Mustang gt - pretty damn good driving dynamics, best interior out of the domestics, enjoyed it. But continued test driving
Charger - pretty cool options like heated/cooled cupholders, but the enjoyment ended there
Acura tl - it was good but interior looked like my moms mdx, which is busy as ****. Overpriced and bad fuel economy (not that it means that much to me)
G37- almost fell asleep. Had great acceleration but felt very dull and boring
Chrysler 300- would be great if i was 60+
Jaguar xf- it was great, amazing ride handling balance, quiet on the highway, comfortable, cool interior features like on startup, very powerful, etc. really liked it, but didnt have a dealership in my city and i heard they break alot, didnt feel like driving 3 hours to pick it up everytime it breaks
S4 - damn good but the few things i disliked about the a4 still existed (nowhere to rest your arms, brutal cupholders, turn nav dial counter-clockwise to go down -_- bottom line, overpriced for me being so picky
Corvette c6 - damn good for a driving car but not for anything you would imagine luxurious. Fastest car ive ever driven also. 60 in under 4 seconds is nuts
Cayman - very good for an exciting drivers car, noisy and uncomfortable on the highway though, not for me
Thats all i can remember off the top of my head, i test drove cars for about 6 months before i decided on the f30 328

[son_of_siggy]

Funny how grantF30 and IEDEI had two polar opposite opinions on the same car (F30 328I). Not saying either is right or wrong, just interesting how different people can drive the same car and come away with two completely different experiences. This is why I love cars .

[ybbiz34]

Had a chance to drive a '14 Cadillac ATS 3.6L today.

Wanted to get a feel for the car after having read so many positive reviews about it. Furthermore, I wanted to get a preview of what the ATS-V will be like.

For this write-up, my 1-10 rating scale is calibrated to "standard" platform cars (i.e., non-M, non-AMG, non-V, non-Quattro, etc.).

Exterior Styling:

- This car flat-out looks much better in person than it does in photos. Photos simply do not do the car justice. The car that I drove was painted in Radiant Silver Metallic. It is a very nice metallic silver and looks excellent on the ATS.

- The exhaust tips are very prominent (in a good way). I didn't measure them, but in terms of diameter, they looked similar in size to the tips found on the CTS-V. Aside from checking those out, I didn't spend much time gawking at the rear end.

- In person, the front end of the car is more eye-catching than a non-M Sport/non-Sport BMW 328i/335i. It's muscular and fairly aggressive.

- The 18" wheels looked good but were nothing special. The Brembo-made brakes were also respectable (the front Brakes were painted with Cadillac branding on them).

- The car had run-flat tires.

Overall: 7.5/10.

Interior Styling:

- This car had a dark red leather interior (cannot remember the exact name of the color) that paired wonderfully with the Radiant Silver exterior (nice contrast). The red is noticeably darker than Coral (BMW's red for the 3er) but by no means burgundy. There were also patches of black leather that made for a nice red/black two-tone look.

- The seats were excellent (particularly if you like seats that "hold" you in tight). The thigh and rib bolstering sections were both ample. Furthermore, there was a useful thigh extension on the seat's base (similar to the "Sport" seats in the 328i/335i). I loved the fact that both the front and rear seats had perforated leather. Come on BMW, please give us an option for perforated leather in cars like the 3er/4er/M3/M4.

- The steering wheel was fantastic. It was swathed in soft leather and had a nice, consistent thickness to it. There were also extensions for your thumbs right above the 9 and 3 o'clock positions.

- Paddle shifters were slim but long, making them easy to access. They looked very nice.

- There was an abundance of soft-touch materials for an entry-level car. The dash was covered in leather and featured some subtle contrast stitching. The trim was sort of a glossy carbon fiber. In direct sunlight, there were hints of red in the trim (supposedly this is only offered with the red interior). Overall, I liked it. It looked very sporty and suited the red/black leather interior.

- The HUD was very nice and offered for a plethora of configurations. You could move the HUD display around to accommodate your driving position. It was also easy to adjust the brightness of the display. My favorite HUD setting: A digital representation of the tachometer (hockey stick style) with the speed you were traveling above it.

- Back seat room was ample. The back seats can be easily folded (60/40) and there is a pass-through for skis.

- Trunk space was decent. I like the way Cadillac widened the front of the trunk to make it easy to accommodate items such as golf bags, etc. Overall, the trunk on both the W204 C-Class and F30 3-Series are bigger.

- CUE (I'll come back to this later; don't have time to get into it at the moment) was easy to use in the sense that when I touched a button, the system responded instantaneously to my touch, although it may have taken a few seconds for the menu/screen that I wanted to load.

- Random other features that I liked: Parking assist, back-up camera, adaptive cruise control, etc. The car has plenty of bells and whistles when you load it up.

- The center stack and center console areas were really the only drawback with respect to the interior design. A little too much "bling" for my taste.

Compared to the F30 3er and the W204 C-Class, I would say that the W204 has the best interior, followed by the Cadillac. I just was not that impressed with the interior on the F30 when I had it; too many hard plastics (the F80 M3's interior looks a little more luxurious though I have yet to see it in person).

Overall: 7.5/10

Driving Dynamics:

- The Magnetic Ride Control (MRC) is simply outstanding. In "Touring" mode, the suspension/car rides like a . . . Cadillac. You cruise along comfortably, as if you are floating on a cloud. Road imperfections are soaked up magnificently while still transmitting a respectable amount of feedback through the steering wheel. The suspension may feel too firm for some, even in "Touring" mode. However, compared to the suspension on my LCI C63, the Caddy's suspension felt more forgiving.

- The car feels extremely planted and turn-in is a joy. I know this sounds crazy but the ATS feels closer to a sports car than an entry-level luxury sedan from Cadillac. There was significantly less body roll than there was on my F30 M Sport 335i. Furthermore, the car was NOT easily upset by road imperfections during higher speed turns.

- Steering feel is on the lighter side when cruising in "Touring" but firms up nicely once you start to push the car in "Sport" mode. There was plenty of feedback between the front wheels/tires and the driver.

Overall: 8.5/10 (would be pushing 9 but the transmission and overall power aren't as impressive as the M Sport F30 335i with the 8-speed ZF "Sport Auto.")

I'll add to this when I have more time. I'm sure I left some things out.

In sum, I came away extremely impressed by the ATS.

The ATS-V is going to be a weapon. The suspension is already there. If the power gets bumped up and the transmission gets dialed in - the F80 M3 and W205 C63 owners better keep an eye out for the ATS-V variant.

[BMWM3DREAM]

I'm bringing this thread back because I am very much interested to see what people on this forum think about cars they have recently test driven or borrowed as a loaner car. Personally, I had a 2016 or 2017 loaner car yesterday (330i) that was pretty much standard but had eighteen inch wheels. I wasn't impressed with it at all. The car looks like a BMW from the exterior, but inside the seats were not comfortable. and the interior dash layout looked and felt cheaply made. The motor was good, but the sound the 4 cylinder makes doesn't present itself as luxurious or substantially sporty.

Has anyone driven the IS 350 F Sport or GS 350 F Sport, or any other vehicles they have recently driven to share their impressions of driving them?

If anyone else has contributions, please feel free to tell us your experience with cars you have recently test driven, had as loaners, etc.

[BMWM3DREAM]

Alfa Romeo Gulia 2.0 T: power was decent, seats very well-bolstered, interior is ho-hum, steering is fine, but still light, not an interesting car even with the sports package, kind of a default semi-sporty, utilitarian "sport" sedan. They lease well, I think which is a plus, leather is standard I believe, another plus.