323/325 Owners: Be careful racing those VW Bugs!!

Why does the VW beetle get a 6-speed?

Link to article on new VW Bug Turbo S:

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/roadt...1/article.html

Sheesh.

I want a 6-speed. I'll bet BOTH the RX-8 and the G35 will offer 6-speeds...

;-)

Yeah- it does kind of suck that we don't get a 6 speed. But, if we did get a 6 speed it most likely would not improve performance-- BMW would just use the extra gear to give us an overdrive to improve highway mileage. The slight extra weight of the transmission would cause a very slight decrease in acceleration performance. This is how 6 speeds are used in all current applications including the M3. For other car makers, the 6 speed may have improved performance a bit because they were already uing 5th gear as an overdrive so the ratios weren't as tightly spaced as they could be with 6 gears. BMW tops out at 1:1 in 5th- so they can have tightly spaced ratios. Some gearboxes run 1:1 in 3rd!

M54 LOVE high RPMS, no need for a 6th speed!

as for this:

Volkswagen has equipped this Beetle with a 180 horsepower 1.8-liter turbocharged engine and hooked it to a six-speed manual transmission. That's a 20-percent boost in horsepower over the standard Turbo Beetle, and combines with a peak torque of 173 lb-ft to give the S model a 0-to-60 time of 7.4 seconds, according to Volkswagen.

No threat to my 330ci yet!

Being a refugee of the Veedub club, Im impressed. a six cog 20v turbo chipped and exhausted would be quite the sleeper. I dont think 3.0 BMW owners have to worry too much though, but you have to admit, a car almost half the price that could run with a 3er is interesting.
But at least they still got torque steer...

I couldnt agree more -


When I cruise on long journeys, it kills me that my engine has to rev soo damn High in 5th gear at 80mph


it's just not right - I could save a ton more gas if we had an extra cog

It seems kind of ironic that BMW made the 325 an LEV (Low Emissions Vehicle) and the 330 a ULEV (Ultra...) but they don't give us an extra gear to help conserve gasoline. Well, at least I'm not driving a 16 MPG SUV... Wait a minute, the M3 gets 16 MPG too.

Having owned a VW GTI VR6, I can say this car is a little rocket. 2nd and 3rd pulls like crazy - but hang on with the torque steer...the engine is really the only great part of this car....the handling and suspension could never keep up with it. I would say that my 325ci is actually a little slower than the GTI...but the GTI can't hold a candle to the amazing balance, grip, and handling of the 325...so if ever it came to a back road match...the GTI would hang in there...but the last thing you'd see would be the taillights of the Bimmer disappearing around the hairpins....