Coupes vs saloon/estate counterparts
Coupes vs saloon/estate counterparts
Author
Discussion

TiminYorkshire

Original Poster:

558 posts

237 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
I've been mulling this over, beyond the visual appearance is there much difference in driving dynamics between cars such as the CLK and 3 series (E9x) coupes vs their saloon and estate counterparts, excluding AMG/M varieties?

ocrx8

883 posts

214 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
I wouldn't say there's a material difference between the bodystyles as they're all based on the same platform and any weight +/- will be negligible.

For what it's worth, I think the E92 looks worse than either the E90 or E91.

caelite

4,282 posts

130 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
As above, same chassis, negligible difference in weight. It's just looks vs practicality, although I have heard the argument that coupes & saloons can make for a quieter cabin as the rear wheel wells are 'separate' from the cabin, although I think again that may be negligible.

MorganP104

2,605 posts

148 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
With modern cars, platform sharing, all that jazz, I think it mainly comes down to suspension setup, wheel/tyre size, and ECU map.

Underneath, they are the same motors, essentially.

TiminYorkshire

Original Poster:

558 posts

237 months

Monday 19th June 2017
quotequote all
So potentially they may handle a little differently but not by a huge margin. Has anyone had experience of both a coupe version and a normal version as a direct comparison?

ZX10R NIN

29,507 posts

143 months

Monday 19th June 2017
quotequote all
I've driven a C55/SLK55 & CLK55 the C55 felt a little softer than the other two but there really wasn't a lot in it I preferred the CLK but each had their own character obviously with the SLK you can here the engine more it's smaller & felt more darty, I think the biggest difference will be more dependent on what you want them for.