XeroK00L

Car & Driver tested the IS350 doing 0-60mph in 5.1 seconds, and covering 1/4 mile in 13.7 seconds @ 104mph--identical to Automobile's 335i numbers except for the 0.1 second difference in 1/4 mile. BUT still, I believe the 335i tested by Automobile has a manual tranny, since it was compared to an M3. With an automatic it would've turned in slower times. PLUS the sedan is gonna be heavier than the coupe, further dragging down the acceleration.

STIG

I was really close to ordering 335i. But now I have something better in my mind. Starts with X and ends with 5.

picus

Better they nickel and dime you for HIDs?

In the end the BMW will be 2-6k more expensive, regardless of options, no options, optinion-y options, or otherwise. BMW fans can go on about how maintenance, residuals and re-sale offset that, and Lexus fans can call tell them to go buy a toaster to fix their failing electrics.

Me? I'd rather drive em and decide!

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

when torque starts falling at 4000 in a 7000 rpm engine, its not breathing well at higher rpms, and a waste of 3000 rpm, now you have falling torque right in the middle of your midrange powerband, great. An IS already makes 90% of its max torque past 2500 and keeps it up far past 4000. Its easy for cars to breath at low rpms, midrange to top is where it gets tricky

this is a real powerband from an stock E46 M3, note how flat the torque is unlike the 335, the M3 still beats the 335 even tho it has almost 40 ft lbs less torque because its torque curve is far better in high rpms, who knows maybe its restricted from the factory so it doesnt beat the M3, if you can mod it to breath up the high band it will beat M3s:

GFerg

Damn 300lb-ft on the dyno?!?! WOW. Isnt the hp similar to the IS?? Maybe 265-270hp??

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

yea but when you are tracking it, shift at 7rpm you never touch the 300 ft lbs again its more like you touch 250 ft lbs when it shifts down to who knows 5000 rpm or so, the 300 ft lbs was way back in 2000-3000 rpms, trackwise the 300 ft lbs wouldve been better if it was in the 4000-5000 rpm range why would you let your rpms dip down to 2-3k where (max torque) is on a track

daveortega

But, But, But...Sounds like a series of excuses.

I'm certainly not one to allow the Lexus to have a handicap for having an automatic tranny. In my book, it's a negative. If BMW chooses to offer their car with a stick shift and it allows their car to be faster, then guess what: the BMW is faster.

IIRC, BMW 3-series sedans are LIGHTER than their coupe counterparts. I love my IS350, but I am pretty confident the BMW has an advantage.

JBrady

Lots of potential here.

To view the engine here is a video from BMW with the major turbo components plainly seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr3w-Ny4vrE&eurl=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSLM3TkYchU&eurl=

A bunch of driving and interior videos

http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/04/...335i-3-series/

JBrady

Either that is NOT a stock M3 dyno or BMW SERIOUSLY underrated the M3. At 333hp engine the M3 will make less than that at the wheels. What are the details about that dyno?

gshb

the 335i costs a very pretty penny. a lot of people have been able to get the IS350 for 37k-40k OTD. this is where the 335i STARTS. add in options to go on par with the lexus and youre looking at 44k before any tax/title/reg. i would suspect a 335i may cost anywhere from 4k up to 8k more than a 350. in california, a 335i is pushing 50k, which isnt too unreasonable. afterall, knowing our 350 can hang with a bmw V8, a 335i for the price of a 530i seems reasonable.

straightline performance #s seems to be identical. i dont know why bmw enthusiasts like to clamor about bmw driving dynamics. no one is going to race a IS350 against a 335i. noone raced a IS350 against a 330i on the road or a track!

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

You don't need to be racing o a track or maxing the car out to feel the difference in driving dynamics between the two cars. The second you pull out of the parking lot you can already feel it. Some people just like that feel and to them they feel more connected to the car as if it were an extention of themselves. Others don't give a rats behind what the car feels like as long as it gets the job done. They are two different types of people and each will buy different feeling/driving type cars. Notrhing wrong with that. Niether car is outright better than the other because they cater to two differnt types of buyers. I bought my Lexus cars because I wanted a reliable daily driver that gets the job done. I personally wouldn't really look at Lexus for a sporty or sports car though.

spwolf

seriously... If the car has "350hp" those numbers are hugely dissapointing.
And automatic sedan WILL BE slower...

Now, how the hell lexus creates car that has "40hp" less, a lot less torque than turbo's, and is still faster?
God job lexus!

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

top end power, 335 seems to have the power curve of a domestic, starts dying after 4k, IS has a more ideal curve max torque is around the midrange (where it will actually drop the rpms to after an upshift) instead of 2-3k (which you never touch again after you pass it once during dragging or tracking, good for daily driving tho)

I was only showing generally what a real torque curve should look like for a track car which is constant torque everywhere, the torque curve of a stock M3 looks far better than the 335 (im sure with mods you can correct this, i bet it was purposely done so it wouldnt beat the M3)

http://www.aatuning.com/dyno/03E46M3...E46M355psi.cfm

spwolf

well, you wont be able to do anything about power drop, its two small turbo's. You can raise the boost, but that wont handle the drop.. now, you can put in bigger turbos to give you more top end, but you then lose bottom.

that doesnt matter though. it just proves what an great car IS350 is.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

The key word in that article is "Dyno Jet" chassis dyno. The Dyno Jet is notorious for putting out high HP numbers. It is good for those that want to inflate their ego and claim high HP figures from their car. Realistically the BMW 335 engine is slightly underated but probably around 310HP and nowhere near 350HP as claimed in the article. The 20% drivetrain loss they used or their calculations is based off the 330i automatic transmission. Typical drivetrain loss for those autoomatics have indeed ben around 18-20% according to owners who have dynoed their cars. The 335i tested I believe was a manual (As indicated on one of the BMW forums) and the manuals have a drivetrain loss typically around 12-15%.

So now we have a couple of test numbers showing the 335i Coupe manual going 0-60 in 5.1 seconds, the 335i Sedan in automatic going 0-62 in 5.3 seconds (Which is roughly 5.1-5.2 0-60), and my guess is there will be a wide range of numbers that are both lower and higher for each car. The trap speeds in the 1/4 mile are about the same as the IS350. That tells me these cars will all be equal in terms of acceleration performance.

I can understand why the top end of the 335 falls off. The BMW small low boost twin turbos are set up to provide lots of low to mid range HP and torque, but being that they are small will surely run out of steam at the top end. That is were the 3.0L engine is getting little help from the turbos. The 3.5L IS350 engine has a larger advantage on top because of its larger displacement.