F10 M5 on track

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A mate of mine took his M5 to Bedford on Saturday. I passengered with him a couple of times and then had a quick go. My god the car is fast! On the back straight it got upto 155mph, I could only manage 135mph in my Cayman R. I have to say that it felt good on track too! Needs a bit of muscling around because of the weight, but it's still a huge amount of fun! I'd love one if I could also keep mine!

[J-P]

W8PMC said:

I've had mine round Anglesey, Donington, Nordschleife & Spa & they're exceptionally capable cars on track. Never going to be quite as quick through the twisties as a Caterham or Exige, but can muller them on gentler bends & the straights. Very little the car can't play with on track, excluding full on race cars of course.

Best lap of Spa last year was just under 3.05 & over 160mph (GPS) down Kemmel & that was with worn tyres & my 1st time round Spa in the M5. Will be back in October & expect to break the 3min mark. Donington (without Melbourne Hairpin) i managed a 1.25.

This is made even better when the drive to/from the track is so much more pleasurable than it would be in more track focused cars.

Wow - very impressive times. I've not driven Spa, would love to give it a go one day. Cayman R felt great on track, it was probably the most fun Ive had in some time. Wasn't trying too hard either, which helped make it more fun.

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Wills2 said:

High praise indeed for the M5 considering your coming from a Cayman R, the M5 is probably the best M car at the moment all things considered.

I know - it is seriously good. I wouldn't want one over the CR but as well as? Oh yes, please!

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bigtime said:

Wills2 said:

High praise indeed for the M5 considering your coming from a Cayman R, the M5 is probably the best M car at the moment all things considered.

Isn't the M6 better as it weighs a bit less? Ian sure a few tests have said the new M4 is quicker round the track. I know this doesn't make it a better car as M cars aren't exactly track focused.

Perhaps but M6 is stupidly expensive around £20k more than an M5 and still no lightweight! I'd take he M5 all day everyday.

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W8PMC said:

JMBMWM5 said:

How did you find the GRT Paul?, I always fancied one but the road noise from the tyres just gave me a headache.

They're an extremely capable car & i'm certainly glad i owned one, but it was a car i got bored of as a daily driver. It's current owner who bought it off me uses it as a weekend & track toy, as has a Q7 TDi for daily driver duties. That would be a better combo. They're just a pain to drive at normal speeds, as you say they're noisy & the build quality isn't very good, but they built the car to a budget so quality wasn't as high on the list as performance & performance is epic.

Now my F10 M5 is a little quicker it can stick with the/a GT-R in pretty much all driving aspects other than wet weather launches where i'd suffer with traction issues. I think the F10 M5 is by far the better all rounder, but that takes nothing away from just how capable a performance car the GT-R is.

I drove a GTR when I was looking for a new car a few years back. I loved it when you were on it but thought it was dire at low speed. Agree on the build quality piece too! For me though, the biggest issue was that it only got comfortable above 50MPH. I just couldn't have used it for everyday scenarios. I didn't like the engine noise either. The F10 M5 is very very fast though. My mate's one held on to the coat tails of a GTR on the long straight at Bedford despite a slower exit speed on the previous corner. Very impressive!