Do you need anything more than a 320d?

[RobM77]

s m said:

RobM77 said:

Thanks - This is of course actually enhancing my point even more, which is now "good for a 1500kg car"

Out of interest, my other car actually comes in lighter than the manufacturer's spec - it's sold as a lightweight car so that surprised me!

It's not often that the cars they weigh are lighter than the manufacturer claims but the odd one does crop up - like the GT86.
Often the weight of the options ( press demos are usually highly specced ) adds on a fair bit but sometimes it's hard to imagine what car the manufacturer actually weighed. I think some of them must get weighed with no fluids on board, oil, coolant, washer fluid, transmission oils, petrol etc to achieve the base spec weights!

I haven't seen the term lately, but in the good old days they always quoted a 'dry weight', which didn't include the oil, water, fuel or battery. These days manufacturers seem to quote a 75kg driver and some fuel on board (my BMW manual quotes 90%). Given that on average my tank is about 60% full of fuel and me plus my CDs and coat is considerably less than 70kg, I should be running under their specced weight. I'm getting some corner weights soon, so it'll be interesting to see.

[s m]

RobM77 said:

s m said:

RobM77 said:

Thanks - This is of course actually enhancing my point even more, which is now "good for a 1500kg car"

Out of interest, my other car actually comes in lighter than the manufacturer's spec - it's sold as a lightweight car so that surprised me!

It's not often that the cars they weigh are lighter than the manufacturer claims but the odd one does crop up - like the GT86.
Often the weight of the options ( press demos are usually highly specced ) adds on a fair bit but sometimes it's hard to imagine what car the manufacturer actually weighed. I think some of them must get weighed with no fluids on board, oil, coolant, washer fluid, transmission oils, petrol etc to achieve the base spec weights!

I haven't seen the term lately, but in the good old days they always quoted a 'dry weight', which didn't include the oil, water, fuel or battery. These days manufacturers seem to quote a 75kg driver and some fuel on board (my BMW manual quotes 90%). Given that on average my tank is about 60% full of fuel and me plus my CDs and coat is considerably less than 70kg, I should be running under their specced weight. I'm getting some corner weights soon, so it'll be interesting to see.

Always the best way to see what your own actual car weighs

I'll be amazed if it comes in at 1383kg though!

[RobM77]

s m said:

RobM77 said:

s m said:

RobM77 said:

Thanks - This is of course actually enhancing my point even more, which is now "good for a 1500kg car"

Out of interest, my other car actually comes in lighter than the manufacturer's spec - it's sold as a lightweight car so that surprised me!

It's not often that the cars they weigh are lighter than the manufacturer claims but the odd one does crop up - like the GT86.
Often the weight of the options ( press demos are usually highly specced ) adds on a fair bit but sometimes it's hard to imagine what car the manufacturer actually weighed. I think some of them must get weighed with no fluids on board, oil, coolant, washer fluid, transmission oils, petrol etc to achieve the base spec weights!

I haven't seen the term lately, but in the good old days they always quoted a 'dry weight', which didn't include the oil, water, fuel or battery. These days manufacturers seem to quote a 75kg driver and some fuel on board (my BMW manual quotes 90%). Given that on average my tank is about 60% full of fuel and me plus my CDs and coat is considerably less than 70kg, I should be running under their specced weight. I'm getting some corner weights soon, so it'll be interesting to see.

Always the best way to see what your own actual car weighs

I'll be amazed if it comes in at 1383kg though!

I wasn't of course trying to state how light the 3 series was, just to say it handles well for a big heavy saloon.

My corner weights may not weigh something that heavy of course They'll be bought for a proper car (495kg)

[T0MMY]

Dr Jekyll said:

Ares said:

As I was told.....nothing tastes as good as walking on a beach with a six pack feels.

That is hilarious.

Jesus Christ, that had to be a joke surely?

[Mr2Mike]

Ares said:

As I was told.....nothing tastes as good as walking on a beach with a six pack feels.

If homoeroticism is your thing, then maybe. Personally I'd prefer a nice steak.

[s m]

RobM77 said:

I wasn't of course trying to state how light the 3 series was, just to say it handles well for a big heavy saloon.

My corner weights may not weigh something that heavy of course They'll be bought for a proper car (495kg)

Like some of us, the 3-series has put on weight as it has aged. Lot safer, stiffer and more gadgets although they're a bigger car now as well

[lostkiwi]

1500kg puts it heavier than my Saab 9-3 which comes in at 1425kg. The 320d isn't that light...
Even my Defender comes in at just over 1750kg....

[s m]

lostkiwi said:

1500kg puts it heavier than my Saab 9-3 which comes in at 1425kg. The 320d isn't that light...
.

Diesel one? The 05 model is roughly the same I think weight wise at 1542kg. Petrol one are a bit lighter

Edited by s m on Wednesday 8th July 00:37

[Patrick Bateman]

Has Vladimir returned?

[RobM77]

s m said:

RobM77 said:

I wasn't of course trying to state how light the 3 series was, just to say it handles well for a big heavy saloon.

My corner weights may not weigh something that heavy of course They'll be bought for a proper car (495kg)

Like some of us, the 3-series has put on weight as it has aged. Lot safer, stiffer and more gadgets although they're a bigger car now as well

I'm not sure about heavier or stiffer, but I do have moe gadgets than when I was younger

I've owned two E36s, an E46 and an E90 and it's been interesting comparing them. The actual handling's got better imho, as have lots of quantifiable elements of ride and handling, but the older cars did have a lighter feeling. I must admit I actually prefer driving the newer versions when all is considered. It's a bizarre thought that the 2 litre diesel now has almost the same power as my first E36 325i had all those years ago, and comfortably more than the E30 325!

[anonymous-user]

s m said:

Like some of us, the 3-series has put on weight as it has aged. Lot safer, stiffer and more gadgets although they're a bigger car now as well

The obvious solution is to buy one with a big engine

[cerb4.5lee]

yonex said:

s m said:

Like some of us, the 3-series has put on weight as it has aged. Lot safer, stiffer and more gadgets although they're a bigger car now as well

The obvious solution is to buy one with a big engine

An E30 with a big engine...now that would be a real step in the right direction!

[anonymous-user]

cerb4.5lee said:

An E30 with a big engine...now that would be a real step in the right direction!

There are a few E30's with S65's I think if you lobbed it in the 1M it would make quite a car.

[cerb4.5lee]

yonex said:

cerb4.5lee said:

An E30 with a big engine...now that would be a real step in the right direction!

There are a few E30's with S65's I think if you lobbed it in the 1M it would make quite a car.

Indeed!

[emicen]

yonex said:

cerb4.5lee said:

An E30 with a big engine...now that would be a real step in the right direction!

There are a few E30's with S65's I think if you lobbed it in the 1M it would make quite a car.

E30 316i + M3 Evo kit + mapped M47

Perfect 320d

[tgr]

RobM77 said:

It's a bizarre thought that the 2 litre diesel now has almost the same power as my first E36 325i had all those years ago, and comfortably more than the E30 325!

Sure, but power-to-weight?

[Ares]

RobM77 said:

It's a bizarre thought that the 2 litre diesel now has almost the same power as my first E36 325i had all those years ago, and comfortably more than the E30 325!

Modern diesels are putting out power and performance that was reserved for (near) supercars 20 years ago. That's impressive technology progress.....factor in that they also give fuel consumption of the most frugal cars on the road of 20 years ago it's even moreso.

Luckily, at the top end of the spectrum, this tech is also making cars faster and faster

[RobM77]

tgr said:

RobM77 said:

It's a bizarre thought that the 2 litre diesel now has almost the same power as my first E36 325i had all those years ago, and comfortably more than the E30 325!

Sure, but power-to-weight?

I wasn't trying to infer anything about the performance (which I've already stated is of little interest to me), I was just commenting on how far engine technology has come. Interesting isn't it?

However, seeing as you ask... it's tricky because it depends where you look and what's included in the weight. A quick google is coming up with scant info for the E36 328i, but one site (ultimatespecs.com) is quoting 1440kg as the kerb weight (defined as the vehicle with a full tank of fuel, but no driver), but I'm sure I've seen weights down in the 1300s before. As for the F30 320d, whose power I was comparing with, I can find that listed as 1495 and 1505, depending where you look. My E90 320d manual quotes 1505kg including 90% fuel and a 75kg driver, so with a full tank of fuel and no driver (i.e. the defined 'kerb weight'), that would be 1435kg.

With regard to performance, memory is too unreliable to compare against anything other than my last daily driver, a Z4 Coupé, which was most definitely quicker (not surprising that!), but that had 265bhp, very little weight and a low ratio back axle.

[T0MMY]

Ares said:

Modern diesels are putting out power and performance that was reserved for (near) supercars 20 years ago.

Well let's not get ahead of ourselves here, like for like diesel engine performance can't match petrol engine performance, even from 20 years ago, let alone when talking about supercars.

[RobM77]

T0MMY said:

Ares said:

Modern diesels are putting out power and performance that was reserved for (near) supercars 20 years ago.

Well let's not get ahead of ourselves here, like for like diesel engine performance can't match petrol engine performance, even from 20 years ago, let alone when talking about supercars.

That depends what you mean by 'like for like'. Do you mean capacity? Do you mean the energy released from each unit of fuel? Diesel is inherently more efficient than petrol.

Supercars from 20 years ago might be stretching it (Mclaren F1 perhaps?), but certainly something like a 911 or NSX from back then has now been surpassed by the likes of the 335d or similar. It's a very different thing though - give me an NSX anyday, I don't care how fast the 335d is!!