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BUT... (archive)
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Posted by Mark G on June 04, 2000 at 15:14:43:

In Reply to: Re: M5 80-120km/h time is 4.8 secs. 4TH GEAR TEST. posted by Dave on June 04, 2000 at 13:33:31:

We don't know how the M3 will be geared, all we have is the times given by BMW. While you're right that the M3 would be faster in 3rd, so would the M5, which is geared to hit 67 in second, 102 in third. Yes the M3 will have a shorter axle ratio, but with a higher redline, who knows if the shift points will be the same or at slower speeds than the M5.

If the M3 was geared to give the same shift points as the M5 (=~3.49 axle ratio for the M3, vs. 2.81 for the M5), given that it has the same tranny ratios, the M5 would be faster. If BMW goes shorter than 3.5, then the M3 would narrow the gap, but this has to be balanced with real-world driveability and noise. Hopefully they'll make us happy and give us a very short axle ratio. I can deal with the tradeoffs for the sake of speed.

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