How to get the most from a 35IS test drive?

[gwatson]

Evening all,

So a 35IS has come up sale locally to me at a Jaguar dealer, very rare being up in the NE of Scotland. So after selling my Z4M 18 months, these cars have always intrigued me as they look good on paper, yet don't seem to make the grade in most reviewes. I always wondered if they'd make good stopping ground between my current S2000 and a 981 Boxster or F Type

Coming from the S2000, DCT, adaptive suspension etc are all a bit alien to me. What mode should I try for the test drive for and how to I engage the different settings? Hopefully they'll take me on a decent route.

G

 

[mr wilks]

After recently switching from ZMR to 35i manual i'm interested how this testdrive pans out :driving: :roll: most interested on thoughts

 

[Z4M-2006]

Sport and see how you go.....


Comfort is nice,but you wont get the shotgun blasts and pops from the pipes and the super fast gear changes...The throttle always eems a lot nicer in sport mode too...

Suspension can feel firm in sport,comfort is a bit better for normal everyday driving. With a remap they can be very swift across the ground,the one i had kept an M4 honest in most circumstances.

Try it and let us know your thoughts..

 

[john-e89]

Initial thoughts are you'll be disappointed coming from the two mentioned cars, mainly because the 35is is softer, heavier, and much much less of an exciting driving car than those two. That said you'll find bags more torque and power than the S2000, so much more accessible too, you don't have to wring its neck, it's got ample shove all the way through the rev range, very easy to drive quickly. The steering is not in the same league either, dead and numb in comparison to the other two, although on its own it's ok, nothing more. No doubting it's a great cruiser, GT car, comfy, very easy to live with, a great distance car and excellent every day roadster, they have a lot to offer, but as a thrilling direct sports car? No, in that guise they're a long way off the mark, again especially in comparison to the other two.

Just imho obviously, and yes I've driven quite a few S2000's and owned a Boxster, so as Andy has said your views will be interesting.

 

[Kugaman1]

This will be the red one at Peter Vardy I assume?

Its a tidy looking car. We went to have a look at it a couple of weeks ago, it was outside in the covered area. They wouldnt let us even open a door as it had a sold sign on it. I mean, come on, its a 3 year old BMW FFs, not a Ferrari!

No bother to us as we were only looking. Anyway, got a call a few days later asking us if we would like a test drive as it was now for sale again.......dunno what happened there.....

Anyway, it looked pretty good, let us know how you get on!

Oh and in the showroom......wow some of those F types are stunning! ...... Just £90k is the sticking point!1

 

[mr wilks]

Sport and see how you go.....


Comfort is nice,but you wont get the shotgun blasts and pops from the pipes and the super fast gear changes...The throttle always eems a lot nicer in sport mode too...

Suspension can feel firm in sport,comfort is a bit better for normal everyday driving. With a remap they can be very swift across the ground,the one i had kept an M4 honest in most circumstances.

Try it and let us know your thoughts..

On Sunday's 2 hr drive out across the Bowland fells i sussed how to get the backfires & cracks :evil: very nice it was too
Gearing down towards a bend from 4th then 3rd then into 2nd , gun it out of the bend & as the clutch is dipped for 3rd there it is

 

[Z4M-2006]

Initial thoughts are you'll be disappointed coming from the two mentioned cars, mainly because the 35is is softer, heavier, and much much less of an exciting driving car than those two. That said you'll find bags more torque and power than the S2000, so much more accessible too, you don't have to wring its neck, it's got ample shove all the way through the rev range, very easy to drive quickly. The steering is not in the same league either, dead and numb in comparison to the other two, although on its own it's ok, nothing more. No doubting it's a great cruiser, GT car, comfy, very easy to live with, a great distance car and excellent every day roadster, they have a lot to offer, but as a thrilling direct sports car? No, in that guise they're a long way off the mark, again especially in comparison to the other two.

Just imho obviously, and yes I've driven quite a few S2000's and owned a Boxster, so as Andy has said your views will be interesting.

I think you should get out and drive that car a bit more John.... :rofl:

 

[john-e89]

:lol:

Ass is welded in the M though Gaz...the way it's going the 35 will be saved for pension age only.... :wink:

 

[Z4M-2006]

Sport and see how you go.....


Comfort is nice,but you wont get the shotgun blasts and pops from the pipes and the super fast gear changes...The throttle always eems a lot nicer in sport mode too...

Suspension can feel firm in sport,comfort is a bit better for normal everyday driving. With a remap they can be very swift across the ground,the one i had kept an M4 honest in most circumstances.

Try it and let us know your thoughts..

On Sunday's 2 hr drive out across the Bowland fells i sussed how to get the backfires & cracks :evil: very nice it was too
Gearing down towards a bend from 4th then 3rd then into 2nd , gun it out of the bend & as the clutch is dipped for 3rd there it is

Sounds good doesnt it.

The 35is has a slightly different exhaust to,i think its 10db louder than the 35i..

Plus the mapping on the 35is holds the injector duration open between gear changes,on the odd occasion this sends a proper shotgun blast out of the exhaust... Its really loud...lol..

 

[Z4M-2006]

:lol:

Ass is welded in the M though Gaz...the way it's going the 35 will be saved for pension age only.... :wink:

You should give it me for an hour around Oulton park,see if you can keep up... :rofl:

 

[john-e89]

:lol:

Ass is welded in the M though Gaz...the way it's going the 35 will be saved for pension age only.... :wink:

You should give it me for an hour around Oulton park,see if you can keep up... :rofl:

I'll ignore 2nd and 4th to give you a sporting chance to whup my sorry ass mate....

 

[Z4M-2006]

Whilst your sweating and revving the cobs out of that S54,i will just blast off on a wave of torque.. I will make you a brew in the pits when you finally arrive...

 

[john-e89]

Won't happen...you'll cook your brakes trying to haul down the 35's lard ass..... oke:

 

[mcbeee]

I never drove the is version but I had the first year E89 35i with the Dinan stage II so it was like an is but not the 35 second boost, it was on all the time . Didn’t have the suspension of the is. That would have been nice. Power to spare, acceleration all the way past 160mph, basically a very nice high speed cruiser, tons more power than my old boxster S, handled canyons and high speed runs with the Zcar club but was a lot of work keeping up with the Z3M’s and M roadsters in the twistys. A sweetheart on high speed roads, the dct was a dream, If you are looking at Porsche they don’t compare, the handling is just not as good but the BMW’s generally don’t cost as much
After 5 Zeds I had a Boxster S and my daily driver now is a 911C2S.

 

[Z4M-2006]

Won't happen...you'll cook your brakes trying to haul down the 35's lard ass..... oke:

I wont need to go that fast that the brakes will get warm to outrun the M car...lol..

Seriously,i love both cars a lot..... Im not sure how they stack up against each other really in standard trim,i had mine mapped within days of getting it..
At that point it was much quicker than either of my Z4M's that i had owned previously. The E89 is heavier,you can feel the weight transfer in the bends,but with adaptive suspension it deals with it admirably. And of course,lets not forget what the standard suspension is like on a Z4M,its like a bastard child of concrete slab and a pogo stick.. :rofl:

 

[gwatson]

This will be the red one at Peter Vardy I assume?

Its a tidy looking car. We went to have a look at it a couple of weeks ago, it was outside in the covered area. They wouldnt let us even open a door as it had a sold sign on it. I mean, come on, its a 3 year old BMW FFs, not a Ferrari!

No bother to us as we were only looking. Anyway, got a call a few days later asking us if we would like a test drive as it was now for sale again.......dunno what happened there.....

Anyway, it looked pretty good, let us know how you get on!

Oh and in the showroom......wow some of those F types are stunning! ...... Just £90k is the sticking point!1

It is that one yeah, interesting history. To be honest, I'm probably not interested in this particular model, too expensive and still heavily depreciating. Would need to be a car closer to £18k to £20k, it also doesn't have the upgraded sound system. But, if I like it, then at least I'd be more comfortable buying from down south and wouldn't be a wasted trip.

It certainly is an impressive showroom, went in looking at F types earlier this year.

 

[gwatson]

That said you'll find bags more torque and power than the S2000, so much more accessible too, you don't have to wring its neck

But that's what I love about the S2000 and the Z4M to an extent, worried the turbo engine won't have that rush at the redline.

 

[gwatson]

Sport and see how you go.....

Simple as that is it? That both firms up the suspension and puts DCT into the most aggressive mode? Nothing to do in idrive?

 

[Gaffa22]

I'm selling my S2000 to get a 35i DCT
I road tested one and loved it, I agree with most of what John-e89 says except I wasn't disappointed. Whilst I do love the sporty handling of the S2000 I am loking for a long distance cruiser, with a little more room than the S2k and a few more bells and whistles.
Loved the torque of the 35i and the DCT box is a peach.
But let us know what you think

 

[gwatson]

I'm selling my S2000 to get a 35i DCT
I road tested one and loved it, I agree with most of what John-e89 says except I wasn't disappointed. Whilst I do love the sporty handling of the S2000 I am loking for a long distance cruiser, with a little more room than the S2k and a few more bells and whistles.
Loved the torque of the 35i and the DCT box is a peach.
But let us know what you think

I should have said, the S2000 is my weekender, so long distance cruising I won't be doing, S2000 would be horrible for that, so understand your move.

S2000 is the best car I've ever had out of around 25, including the Z4M and supercharged Z4 3.0i, so really intrigued to see how I get on. I do fancy I change though next year and something safer for the kids to be in, but do I hold out for couple more years for a Boxster, that's the question.