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Originally Posted by lemming
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Originally Posted by killerdeck
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Originally Posted by ayn
Never driven a ZHP really, I'm sure it's very special, but it'd have to be be leaps and bounds better than my 330Ci for it to be as good as you think it is... I've known TD long enough to trust his opinions on it though, if he thinks it sucks, it most likely does! Maybe I'll test drive yours at our next lil Austin lunch meet. 
--Andrew |
Sounds like fair game. Personally, I regard the ZHP transmission to be one of the best BMW has produced in the last 10 years. I have driven 1995-2006 manuals in 323, 328, 325, 330, M3, 525, 530, 540, Z3, M Coupe, M roadster, Z4 2.5, Z4 3.0, and X3 3.0. |
nah.
i have to disagree there. i've driven the ZHP manual and i wouldn't call it superior to the short shift throw plus firmness of the M coupe. could be the same mechanism with more "fluidity" because it's an e46, but the M coupe will stand to me as the finest gearbox in recent memory. hated the long throws of the e36m3 and the e46m3 throws are quite long, also. the throws of the standard e46s are okay but precise.
IMO, BMWs and Porsche do not build transmissions with great feel --they are precise (if notchy) units but they still pale in comparison to the rx8, for example, and the miata or s2000. each one of the aforementioned cars should be the paradigm to emulate but once again, the 3 series is an entry level luxury car so a lot of that "feel" is sacrificed for the sake of a well oiled mechanism with a really wobbly & vague clutch take-up. |
Out of the 987 Boxster, the Mazdaspoeed Miata, and the ZHP, I'd have to say that the ZHP's shifter is the best. It is notchy and noisy, but it is short and precise. I can see how it could be made better, but I like it. Now the clutch... that is a pain in the ass.
I keep thinking the car really needs a lighter flywheel. I keep having to deliberately wait for the revs to drop in all lower gears, and for a 1-2 shift, it's an awfully long wait to get the revs low enough to have a smooth shift. After two years, I still find myself depressing the clutch far deeper than I ought to when coming to a quick stop and shifting out of first.