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      07-14-2013, 03:24 PM   #1
wrsbmw
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Road trip and top end test (we don't need no autobahn in West Texas)

Took a road trip to Lubbock for a bowling tournament this weekend. The fun begins outside of Coleman on TX153 all the way to Sweetwater on I-20. Then you wait until you get out of Snyder on 84 and you are free to stomp on it to Post. Lot's of open road with no other cars and straight stretches to run it out.

The TX153 part has plenty of broad curves that can be taken at 100 with stretches into them that you can get to 150+ on. With AC on I was able to get 157 but no more. I had several miles of open road when I tried. I was the only car on the road at the time and I had to get to the middle and drive with both hands because it's not a great road for this kind of speed. I downshifted to 4th from about 95 in 7th and floored it. Ran it to 6500 in each gear and then shifted. It was doing around 140 when I shifted to 7th. Made it to 157 in 7th gear and it just wouldn't go anymore. No notice from the car that this was the limiter but since it was only running around 5500 RPM (glancing at HUD), I think that was the case. I had the AC on and was only in sport on the gas but it was sport plus on steering and suspension as well as S3 on shifting.

I made a number of tests downshifting to 4th at 90 from 7th gear and then flooring it. Lot's of fun to 140 but it moves more slowly from there. It's a kick to drive the car at 100+ for mile after mile. I did this without the use of a radar detector, there is actually no jurisdiction for speed control in a lot of these areas because there is no magistrate for 20 miles or more in any direction. This is what you get out in West Texas, lot's of empty space and room to run your car as fast as you can without any one bothering you. Course if you blow your engine out there, it's a long way back to wherever you came from.

Here is the route on google.

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=a...mra=ls&t=m&z=7

On the way back, going through Lampasas, I passed a black E-90 M5 with plates 2008M5. A woman was driving it and I honked, she was startled at first but then realized I was in an M5 and she waved back. Fun trip but didn't bowl too wonderfully. I mainly entered this tournament because I wanted to make the road trip, the field was too strong for me to do much good anyway.
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Last edited by wrsbmw; 07-14-2013 at 05:30 PM.. Reason: Adding a picture of high speed bug death goop
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      07-14-2013, 04:25 PM   #2
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157 speedometer indicated? I've seen 165 on the speedo. Which is probably the true 155mph limiter.

The AC compressor will actually deactivate if needed for performance, so that's not slowing you down.

Drive safely our there
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      07-14-2013, 04:33 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by Rob///M5 View Post
157 speedometer indicated? I've seen 165 on the speedo. Which is probably the true 155mph limiter.

The AC compressor will actually deactivate if needed for performance, so that's not slowing you down.

Drive safely our there
I had the pedal to the floor and held it there. The speedometer wasn't advancing anymore at 157 on the HUD. Maybe this one is more accurate than the 165 you saw on yours? I got 152 and still climbing on the way out but other cars were ahead and I had to slow down. I was determined to top it out on the way back so I made sure it wouldn't go more on this run. I will try again some other trip to get the 165 if I can. I will also make sure I am in sport plus on the gas too.

What I would really like is no limit....................
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      07-14-2013, 04:47 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wrsbmw View Post
Ran it to 6500 in each gear and then shifted. It was doing around 140 when I shifted to 7th. Made it to 157 in 7th gear and it just wouldn't go anymore. No notice from the car that this was the limiter but since it was only running around 5500 RPM (glancing at HUD), I think that was the case.
Fun test drive! I've used a gearing/tire diameter/speed calculator to chart the speed at various rpm for the M5 and it shows that you shouldn't have to get out of 5th gear to reach the 155mph electronic limiter on the car. I think I'm doing the calculation correctly, but of course I could be wrong. It shows 154 mph reached at 6,000 rpm in 5th gear, and the magic 200 mph reached at about 6,600 in 6th gear. You could do 155 in 6th gear at about 5,100rpm also. The only variable here is the rear tire diameter, and Tire Rack lists my Michelin 295/35-19 at 27.1 inches in diameter. I'd guess the 20 inch version of the M5 rear is very close to that. Oh, unless you're driving the manual gear box then those gear box ratios would probably be different.....? Also, is the differential gearing different with the stick shift cars? Those calculations are so different from what you say your car was doing that I'm thinking I must have done something wrong......?
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      07-14-2013, 04:52 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by Used2be View Post
Fun test drive! I've used a gearing/tire diameter/speed calculator to chart the speed at various rpm for the M5 and it shows that you shouldn't have to get out of 5th gear to reach the 155mph electronic limiter on the car. I think I'm doing the calculation correctly, but of course I could be wrong. It shows 154 mph reached at 6,000 rpm in 5th gear, and the magic 200 mph reached at about 6,600 in 6th gear. You could do 155 in 6th gear at about 5,100rpm also. The only variable here is the rear tire diameter, and Tire Rack lists my Michelin 295/35-19 at 27.1 inches in diameter. I'd guess the 20 inch version of the M5 rear is very close to that. Oh, unless you're driving the manual gear box then those gear box ratios would probably be different.....? Also, is the differential gearing different with the stick shift cars? Those calculations are so different from what you say your car was doing that I'm thinking I must have done something wrong......?
I was looking at the HUD when I was shifting so I could be off by 1000 RPM if I didn't read it correctly. I am pretty sure I was over 5krpm in 7th gear when the HUD claimed 157. However, I was looking at the speed more than the RPM by then because I had already got to 7th. I was also driving down the middle of the road and it was somewhat bumpy so I was working on keeping my eyes on the road. I should get one of those go pro cameras for the inside that some of the other guys have. That way I could record the road test and there would be no doubt on the numbers.
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      07-14-2013, 05:02 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Used2be View Post
Fun test drive! I've used a gearing/tire diameter/speed calculator to chart the speed at various rpm for the M5 and it shows that you shouldn't have to get out of 5th gear to reach the 155mph electronic limiter on the car. I think I'm doing the calculation correctly, but of course I could be wrong. It shows 154 mph reached at 6,000 rpm in 5th gear, and the magic 200 mph reached at about 6,600 in 6th gear. You could do 155 in 6th gear at about 5,100rpm also. The only variable here is the rear tire diameter, and Tire Rack lists my Michelin 295/35-19 at 27.1 inches in diameter. I'd guess the 20 inch version of the M5 rear is very close to that. Oh, unless you're driving the manual gear box then those gear box ratios would probably be different.....? Also, is the differential gearing different with the stick shift cars? Those calculations are so different from what you say your car was doing that I'm thinking I must have done something wrong......?
OK, I went out to the car and looked at the HUD to see where things are. It appears I was probably shifting at about 5500-6000 rpm but I probably shifted earlier in 6th gear. I think I was at around 4200 or so in 7th gear at 157. What does your calculator say for 7th gear at 4000 rpm?
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      07-14-2013, 05:02 PM   #7
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The gearing calculator shows me that 5,000 rpm in 7th would be 191 mph!!!! Is your M5 a manual trans car? And perhaps you hit the limiter in a lower gear, but as you continued to upshift it just stayed at your indicated 157 mph? I don't know if the electronic limiter would allow the car to continue to upshift while limiting the speed? I would guess it might.
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      07-14-2013, 05:07 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wrsbmw View Post
OK, I went out to the car and looked at the HUD to see where things are. It appears I was probably shifting at about 5500-6000 rpm but I probably shifted earlier in 6th gear. I think I was at around 4200 or so in 7th gear at 157. What does your calculator say for 7th gear at 4000 rpm?
That 4,200 in 7th computes to around your 157, so that makes sense. Exactly 4k is 153 mph.
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      07-14-2013, 05:15 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by Used2be View Post
That 4,200 in 7th computes to around your 157, so that makes sense. Exactly 4k is 153 mph.
OK, so that also makes me think that I was at the limit and I am not going to be seeing 165 on the speedo as Rob suggested. The RPM measurement should be the more telling indicator here. Now that I checked the HUD, I am pretty sure this is the top end limit.

I await the tune that will allow this limit to be eliminated.................
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      07-14-2013, 05:32 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by wrsbmw View Post
I await the tune that will allow this limit to be eliminated.................
Me too! The gearing on this car is such that theoretically, if you had enough HP to push it, it could cruise at 191 mph at 5,000 rpm. That .67 : 1 7th gear is made for high speed operation! Maybe that's why the European version has a limit of 190 mph. Autobahn sustainable performance would be impressive.
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      07-14-2013, 05:38 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Used2be View Post
Me too! The gearing on this car is such that theoretically, if you had enough HP to push it, it could cruise at 191 mph at 5,000 rpm. That .67 : 1 7th gear is made for high speed operation! Maybe that's why the European version has a limit of 190 mph. Autobahn sustainable performance would be impressive.
Wonder what the gas mileage would be? I had an overall average of 72 mph which includes going through a number of small towns at 35-50 mph as well as about 15 miles around Lubbock at similar speeds. My overall gas consumption average was 19.6 mpg including a lot of high speed driving as indicated.

I am now over 4000 miles on my car and I have only had it 2 months. It hasn't asked for any oil yet either.
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      07-14-2013, 05:48 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by wrsbmw View Post
Wonder what the gas mileage would be? My overall gas consumption average was 19.6 mpg including a lot of high speed driving as indicated.

It hasn't asked for any oil yet either.
I'm amazed by the mileage potential when driven economically. I got 24 mpg on a mostly speed limit freeway drive of 300 miles, with just a few bursts to 100 +. I wish I had bothered to keep track of the gas added and the mileage done at my track day, I'm sure the mileage was quite bad even at the low average speed of that track.

It will ask for oil at some point if you do any high rpm driving.
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