[unintelligible]

Originally Posted by WillInDenver

Write it down, folks - someone finally compared the NVH of the VQ engine favorably to a BMW. To anything, for that matter!

Uh, yeah, it's a comparison between a DI 4 banger and a V6. As tractoresque as the VQ might be, when compared to the N20 it comes out ahead. Why is this surprising?

[eMPee]

I've also been in the market for an f30 (coming from a 6mt G37S coupe). I upgraded the clutch/flywheel/slave cylinder to a lightweight stage 2 setup on my G, and it was a HUGE improvement over the garbage stock clutch setup.

I test drove a 328i (6mt), and the throws weren't too long to be bothersome and had a very positive feel to it. Felt a little bit of power difference (my G was pretty heavily modified), but it certainly didn't feel "slow." Like others have stated, I'm sure we will miss the sound of the VQ engine, but I already have a feeling that we will get over it fairly quickly.

That being said, I may just try to save up a bit more and just go for the 335i so that I wouldn't have any regrets.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by oonowindoo

looks are subjective but better feel in steering and shifting is not.

Better = more connected, more precise, more direct, more mechanical, and you should be not able to move your shifter left and right in 3rd gear.

if you have owned a s2000 before, your opinion about shifting will be different.

What I said was

I have not found enough difference in any of cars (s2k, g37, 328, etc etc) mentioned in this thread to make the gearbox a go or no go factor when buying

I would say the power difference in gear, when accelerating in 3rd on the highway, in any of the cars is much more noticeable, and (for me anyway) is more of a factor than the gearbox "feel"

I wasn't trying to argue for one gearbox being better than another, I was saying other things were more important (for me) when buying car.

For the record, I was not very impressed with the AP1 that I drove. Perhaps it was because I drove a used example that had seen a fair amount of track use, and the ~100mph trap speed was not that impressive anymore compared to what has come on the market in the last decade