Audi A5 vs BMW 335i convertible

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Shadow
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Audi A5 vs BMW 335i convertible

Post by Shadow »

Okay, let me start by saying that I don't condone street racing. At this point in my life, I realize that street racing isn't exactly a good idea and it's something that I'll very rarely do these days. When I was a stupid kid, I loved (or maybe I should say "lived") to street race.

That said, I had an interesting little "race" the other night. I was at a light waiting when I noticed a brand spankin' new BMW convertible behind me. What caught my eye was the fact that it had a paper license tag on the front windshield. I guess the tag placement makes sense since it was a convertible.... Anyway, the top was down and there was a guy driving and a girl in the passenger seat. When the light turned green, we both turned on to a 4-lane highway where we got stuck at another red light. I was in the right lane and the BMW moved next to me in the left lane. I honestly wasn't paying any attention to him at all at this point. Instead, I was fumbling with the stupid MMI knob that controls everything in my car. So when the light turns green, the BMW driver takes off like a bat out of hell. It completely caught me off guard, but I could her his exhaust system wailing as he pulled away.

I knew the road we were on had about 5 miles of smooth road until the next traffic light. Since it was late at night and there were very few cars on the roads, I decided to catch up to the BMW and play a little. As I approached him, I could clearly see that it was in fact a 335i and it had the separated exhaust tips on the left & right, not the twin tips on the same side of the 328i. So I figured the guy was going to pull away pretty hard on me because I know that the BMW has quite a bit more power. But I was in the mood to play, so what the hell....

I pulled up even with him at about 55 MPH, dropped the car into 4th gear and mashed the gas pedal. The BMW driver didn't bite....he just maintained his speed. So I slowed down and then he proceeded to blow by me, almost in "ricer fly-by" fashion. Then he slowed down and let me catch up. This time, I wasn't sure what he was going to do, so I downshifted before I got right next to him and was going to creep up at a higher RPM. Well, before I even got side by side with him, he floored it. At this point, it was 100% apparent to me that his car was an automatic. His transmission kicked down and clicked off a couple of very quick shifts. At the same time, I had floored my gas pedal and shifted from 4th to 5th. We were probably going about 110 mph before we had to back off because we started to approach traffic in front of us. Anyway, I was amazed that my Audi matched his BMW. Neither car gained an inch from 55 to 110. So even though I was expecting to watch him pull away, it never happened.

When I thought about it, he was definitely at a disadvantage for a few reasons. Although his engine is more powerful, he was also in a convertible (heavy) and the top was down (I think that's probably a disadvantage, but I'm not 100% sure). He also had two people in his car (I was alone) and he had an automatic (again, not sure if this is a disadvantage in the BMW). His car was also brand new, but I only have about a 1,000 miles on mine too, so both engines are probably not even broken in yet.

The BMW driver turned off an exit before we got to the next traffic light. I would have liked to talk to him, but I guess I'll never get that chance. Anyway, it was interesting and fun, but it's not something that I'll do very often. I really expected that BMW to be quite a bit faster...
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Re: Audi A5 vs BMW 335i convertible

Post by Rope-Pusher »

^ Pics with her top down, or it never happened!
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Re: Audi A5 vs BMW 335i convertible

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Rope-Pusher wrote:^ Pics with her top down, or it never happened!
Tell you what...the car looked good. There's something about the new 3-series convertible that just looks great with the top up or down. The way they designed the hard top, it just gives the car a wider look in the back or something. I'm not much of a convertible guy, but if I was, I would definitely have that car on my list.
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Re: Audi A5 vs BMW 335i convertible

Post by AHTOXA »

I highly doubt rope was talking about the car.
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Re: Audi A5 vs BMW 335i convertible

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AHTOXA wrote:I highly doubt rope was talking about the car.
I know :wink:
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Re: Audi A5 vs BMW 335i convertible

Post by Charles421 »

Lol @ Rope

If it was a coupe or sedan you would have fallen behind. The convertable weighs several hundred more pounds due to the folding hard top. No way a 335 sedan/coupe would lose to an A4 2.0T assuming each ear is stock and has similar loads, etc.

Nice story though! Serves him right for getting an automatic (and a convertible! I dislike that combo for some reason). As a 335 driver myself, I cringe a little every time I see one with an auto ... :( ... even though it is a good auto transmission, a ZF 6-speed. The 328 has a GM auto trans (6-speed as well, but slower and not as advanced).

Side note: I've not taken my 335 to 100+ yet. Roads are just too shitty around here, especially the highways.
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Re: Audi A5 vs BMW 335i convertible

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Charles421 wrote:Lol @ Rope

If it was a coupe or sedan you would have fallen behind. The convertable weighs several hundred more pounds due to the folding hard top. No way a 335 sedan/coupe would lose to an A4 2.0T assuming each ear is stock and has similar loads, etc.

Nice story though! Serves him right for getting an automatic (and a convertible! I dislike that combo for some reason). As a 335 driver myself, I cringe a little every time I see one with an auto ... :( ... even though it is a good auto transmission, a ZF 6-speed. The 328 has a GM auto trans (6-speed as well, but slower and not as advanced).

Side note: I've not taken my 335 to 100+ yet. Roads are just too shitty around here, especially the highways.
Like I said, I didn't expect to be able to keep up. I was very surprised. The combination of an automatic trans in a convertible with the top down carrying two people in it just didn't help him at all.

What kind of performance numbers do the automatics put up in comparison with the manuals in the 335i? With Audi, the manuals are capable of putting up better numbers. And from what I've seen, there are other cars (Infiniti G37, as an example) that the automatics run just as quick (if not quicker) than the manuals version of the car.
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Re: Audi A5 vs BMW 335i convertible

Post by Charles421 »

Shadow wrote:What kind of performance numbers do the automatics put up in comparison with the manuals in the 335i? With Audi, the manuals are capable of putting up better numbers. And from what I've seen, there are other cars (Infiniti G37, as an example) that the automatics run just as quick (if not quicker) than the manuals version of the car.
BMW rates the manual 335 at 5.3s to 60 vs 5.5s for the auto. The 335 isn't sold with the DCT 7-speed in the US; overseas it is and I believe that's 0.2s faster than the manual (BMW's numbers).

But getting that fast 0-60 time with the manual ... you have to beat the shit out of the drivetrain. The 1>2 shift is really jarring under full acceleration; 4.11 > 2.32 gear ratio. I don't launch my car period, I get out of first at 4K RPM and then push it in second/third.
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