blackdawg
01-07-2002, 07:09 AM
we had sleet, then snow, and then it froze over in st.louis last night.
perfect conditions to get accustomed to how the 325xiT handles the ice; and more interesting --> on the same roads, i drove our sports useless vehicle (AWD.......2002 bravada with rear differential, no DSC).
braking was pretty hairy in the SUV, as the truck skidded to and fro and required mucho steering input to stay straight. also: i stopped in the middle of icy hills. there was a lot of noise as first the rear wheels slipped, i could hear the rear diff. kick in and whale the tail about and then the center diff. would transfer the power to the front wheels. wow. it got going, but after much drama and noise and wheelspin.
DSC-X: amazing. holy cow. the 325xiT stopped straight as an arrow (both vehicles on all season touring tires). when i whipped the car around an icy corner, DSC cut in so quickly i didn't even have to countersteer. and when i stopped the car in the middle of an icy incline --> the car just crabbed up the hill. no drama.
and so: i've come away very impressed. many have scolded bmw xi as not true AWD because of a lack of differentials and so forth, but those people probably also haven't truly tested this system. it's amazing. and i almost want an SUV with DSC. we used to own a jeep cherokee and that also was very unstable braking and putting power down on icy roads. fishtailed like crazy!
perfect conditions to get accustomed to how the 325xiT handles the ice; and more interesting --> on the same roads, i drove our sports useless vehicle (AWD.......2002 bravada with rear differential, no DSC).
braking was pretty hairy in the SUV, as the truck skidded to and fro and required mucho steering input to stay straight. also: i stopped in the middle of icy hills. there was a lot of noise as first the rear wheels slipped, i could hear the rear diff. kick in and whale the tail about and then the center diff. would transfer the power to the front wheels. wow. it got going, but after much drama and noise and wheelspin.
DSC-X: amazing. holy cow. the 325xiT stopped straight as an arrow (both vehicles on all season touring tires). when i whipped the car around an icy corner, DSC cut in so quickly i didn't even have to countersteer. and when i stopped the car in the middle of an icy incline --> the car just crabbed up the hill. no drama.
and so: i've come away very impressed. many have scolded bmw xi as not true AWD because of a lack of differentials and so forth, but those people probably also haven't truly tested this system. it's amazing. and i almost want an SUV with DSC. we used to own a jeep cherokee and that also was very unstable braking and putting power down on icy roads. fishtailed like crazy!