they are faster than the Maximas.

Maxima 5-speed does 0-100 in about 18~19 seconds, but the new 330 5-speed does it about 15 seconds. (according to Car and Driver, and my memory is not fresh, so 330 could be slower). But anyway, the 330 is faster 0-60 too. I think 0-100 is a very good indicator of performance. 911 turbo does it in 9 seconds!!! and Camaros LS1s take about 12 seconds.

My point is, the 330 and the 2k Maxima is almost dead even, pound for pound, Horsepower, torque, even engine size is identical at 3.0, but how come the Bimmer is significantly faster in 0-100? 3 seconds is a lot.

I don't think a stock Maxima 5-speed will beat a 330 5speed at any speed.

Even the 325 is faster than the numbers should suggest. Yesterday someone said he beat a 325 by only a car length. A car length is pretty darn close! considering it was 3 liter vs 2.5.

I think BMWs are faster than they are supposed to be if you look at only the power figures.They are much faster than cars with similiar weight and power. Is it because they have short gearing? what is it? I am just so surprised that the 330 is that fast.

 

Well.. simply looking at peak hp and peak torque doesn't not mean a darn thing... those are all marketing numbers. Of the items you listed, only the weight is really of any importance. What you didnt' mention and most marketing people won't tell you are things like gear ratio and most importantly the power curve. If you have a big curve, ie more area under the curve, then you will be faster... well given that the gearing is such that it is to take advantage of the power band.

-Shing

 

Ummm, 0-100 is basically the 1/4 sprint. Maxima can do anywhere from 14.7-15.1 at 94-96mph in the 1/4. Same goes for the BMW. I don't see a MAXIMA doing 3-4 more sec added to that to get just 4 mph! LOL...

 

I remember us all having a discussion a while ago about FWD vs RWD. The Max is front and the BMW is rear drive. This may also have something to do with the speeds. Road and track rates thec bmw 0-100 time at 16.3 seconds.

Maxima 330Ci
0-60 6.7 6.2
1/4 mile 15.1 14.8

 

Russ,

No stock maxima will hit 100mph in the 1/4. 100mph is longer than the 1/4 mile.

-Shing

 

You missed the point. I never said the MAXIMA would hit 100mph in a 1/4. I said between 4 mph difference, 94-96 mph whatever, it won't take 4 sec to hit 100mph from that. Come on shing, read through the stuff first!

[Edited by Russ2kSE on 01-04-2001 at 08:21 PM]

 

The Max does 94.4mph in the 1/4mile the BMW does 95.4mph. Thats only a 1 mph difference.

 

Ugh.. double negative is a positive.
I think you meants to say "I never said the maxima would hit 100mph in a 1/4.".

 

I really don't think there is any meaning to this subject.
If 330 is a tad faster than a Maxima, the difference will be sooooo small that you have no guarantee of beating a Max 10 out 10 times.
In real world, most of the imports with 6cyl and similar hp, are all on the same level speed wise. 3 series, Maxima, A4 2.8, IS300, even Camry and Accord(of course no manual for Accord so it's a bit handicaped)... No one is significantly faster than another.

Cars are getting faster and faster now days. My GS400 ran 14.6 which isn't too slow, then you have Jim ran 14.4 in his A6 2.7, faster right? Guess what, we have stock 5th gen(madmax is that his nick?) ran 14.3!
So, really, if you really want to be faster than the guy next to you, get a car does low 13's in stock form(such as new M3, M5, AMG55 models, Vette, NSX likes...), anything short of that you are just considered not too slow.

Btw, did I brag??

 

So what your trying to say is that with all the cars being so close in performance it's the piolet not the plane that matters.

 

well that's certainly valid.
what i was trying to say is: in my opinion, it really isn't that big of deal if you are faster than the next guy by like two tenth of sec. if you really want the blow your doors off kinda feeling, you need a car that's much faster.

 

***cough*** Like the BMW M Roadster, right woodear?

 

nope, i listed some examples, like the new M3, M5, Vette, AMG 55 models, NSX, 911 likes.
M roadster is really not that fast, it's prolly 3 cars in front of that 14.3 5th gen max, no biggie. now if it's a new m3, it will end up like 12-14 cars in the front, that you can call a roadkill.

 

I think the BMW is geared a bit lower than the Maxima. Remember, 5th gear on the 330i is a direct 1:1 ratio. Maxima is probably around 0.8-0.7:1 or something like that.

The 330i is very fast for its horsepower to weight ratio. It's a tad faster than a 5-spd 2k Maxima, but it comes to the driver at the stoplight race. But when it comes to the twisties, a stock 330i with sport package (or even without) will whip the Maxima SE in the twisties. Hey, you gotta justify the extra $20,000 somehow, right?

As for the 325i (or 323), I think its the same engine used in the old 325, which made 189hp at that time. BMW claims 184hp (used to be 170hp), but everyone knows the 323 dynoing 160RWHP stock has got to be putting around 190 out at the wheels. Even Cartalk's Tom and Ray on their test drive of the 325 says its the same engine from back in the day. And it's a gem of an engine. 0-60 for a 5-spd manual 325i is 6.9s, which is pretty close to a 5-spd Maxima, and will handily whip an automatic Maxima. I think an auto Max will be even with a 325i automatic.

Similarly, I think the 328i engine (2.8L) horsepower was also underreported. 0-60 in 6.6s (old 328i) for a 3500lb sedan (vs. 3250 for the Max) was very fast.

 

I did read.. and the first thing you said was incorrect. Simply point out that 100mph is longer than 1/4. I guess you didn't read my second sentense like I didnt' yours.

-Shing

 

Heck, I call 3 cars a roadkill too But, were scrappin' as the underdogs....

 

All you none 1/4 mile drag racers are missing one VERY IMPORTANT point about 1/4 mile times and trap speeds. Your trap speed is an average over the last 60 foot. Technically by the end of the 1/4 mile, a strong running Max could come damn close to hitting 100mph. When I'm passing the last timing box I'm right at an indicated 6500 rpms or approximately 98mph. I've hit as high as 96.5mph in the 1/4 mile at the track. I'd bet I was pretty close to 100mph at the end.

Look at it this way, I'm running a 14.9 according to the final timing light at the track, but at that timing light I'm probably running 98mph+ even though my timeslips show my averaged speed as 94-96mph. Believe me, it doesn't take my car 4 seconds more than a BMW 330 to hit 100mph.

Dave

 

Heres what ill do.. Ill get my brother out one night with my dads 330i auto and we will see which car is faster 0-100. The only problem is in Chicago they laid down tons of salt and the roads are often damp, so i get a lot of wheel hop out of the launch. Personally i have driven both cars and i think the 330i is a tad bit faster. I love my maxima, but the BMW is a better performance vehicle. But then again it cost almost 20k more than my car.

 

What you say is true. Thats the reason your mph is called "trap speed"!

As far as whether or not a 330i can take a Max to 100, well, we will just have to find out by an "experiment" I really have no idea. But, if I had to put my money down, Id bet on the 330i.

 

me too.
i won't bet on it, but if i am forced to bet, i think 330 has a better chance of winning.

 

Actually your speedo is off and the track is right. Think about it if you were going 98mph or 143.7ft/s, you'd finish the last 60ft in 0.41 seconds! I don't think you can accelerate an extra 2.9ft/s in the last 60ft. The thing is our speedo's are basically analog voltmeter's and as speeds increase the error margin increases too. I know in my sentra when my speedo shows 92mph real speed is around 86-87mph. As you get close to 100mph the speedo inaccuracy gets even larger. You already know that the tach is off so, its true.

 

Nismo87-

I don't quite understand what you are saying, but I think you are trying to prove me wrong Anyways, when I had my Z28, a fellow F-Body (ex-highway patrol) owner brought his radar gun to the track and clocked the cars as they were passing thru the traps. On average, for a car that can hit 95+mph in the 1/4mile, the radar was showing 2-3mph faster than the timeslip speeds. For cars that were much quicker (9 and 10 second cars), they could be going as fast as 7mph faster than the timeslip.

Dave

 

Exactly. Try a Gtech Pro and you will prove the same result. Your speed at the EXACT 1/4 mile point is HIGHER than your reported "trap speed" on the slip. Thats just the rules of the game. Every accredited track measures it the same way.

 

[/I][/QUOTE]

Of course. And thats exactly how long it will take a car travelling at an AVERAGE speed of 98 mph to go through the 60 foot trap. In reality, this theoretical car may enter the traps (at the 1260 ft mark) going 97 mph and exit the traps (at the 1320 ft mark) going 99 mph. Thus, the reported "trap speed" as shown on the slip would read 98 mph. This would represent an average ACCELERATION of 7.07 ft/s^2 through the traps.

Take the same car and look at the whole 1320 feet. Lets assume it takes 14.5 sec to get from the 0 foot mark to the 1320 ft mark. At the 0 foot mark, the speed is 0 mph. At the 1320 foot mark, the speed is 99 mph. So, the AVERAGE ACCELERATION through the entire race is 10.03 ft/s^2. This gives an even higher AVERAGE rate of acceleration than the portion of the track the includes just the trap. (The lower gears provide a higher rate of acceleration, thus biasing the average.)

So, you can see, it is quite feasible and realistic to pick up 2 mph in the last 60 feet of the track.