M5 "kill" story
07-12-2006, 04:38 PM
#11
AudiWorld Super User
SMG rocks! like a manual transmission, it can easily be smooth if driven right....
requires a nice touch with the throttle with an ever so slight and well-timed lift after each paddle upshift depending of what rpm you are shifting at. And like any manual transmission, there is a learning curve much in the same way you eventually become accustomed to where the engagement point in a clutch is. Downshifts are silky smooth and extremely slick with perfectly executed rev matching. It sounds awesome when decelerrating hard.
The only time SMG is not smooth is if you leave it in auto "D" mode and expect for it to behave like an automatic, which it obviously does a poor job of from the lack of torque converter. But I don't know any E60 M5 owner who even bothers with auto mode. I don't. The paddle shifters are involving enough to be fun to drive yet uncomplicated enough that it doesn't become a chore even in the worst bumper to bumper traffic.
Most of the SMG naysayers are those who have had limited seat time with the car during a test drive, in a borrowed car, or a trusting friend who let them drive it... the same people who haven't gotten past the learning curve of how to drive one smoothly. On the track, the SMG is simply unbeatable. On the street, saying SMG is not smooth is like a person who is a newbie at driving a manual tranny proclaiming that all manual trannies are very jerky.
wow, that was a bit long-winded
The only time SMG is not smooth is if you leave it in auto "D" mode and expect for it to behave like an automatic, which it obviously does a poor job of from the lack of torque converter. But I don't know any E60 M5 owner who even bothers with auto mode. I don't. The paddle shifters are involving enough to be fun to drive yet uncomplicated enough that it doesn't become a chore even in the worst bumper to bumper traffic.
Most of the SMG naysayers are those who have had limited seat time with the car during a test drive, in a borrowed car, or a trusting friend who let them drive it... the same people who haven't gotten past the learning curve of how to drive one smoothly. On the track, the SMG is simply unbeatable. On the street, saying SMG is not smooth is like a person who is a newbie at driving a manual tranny proclaiming that all manual trannies are very jerky.
wow, that was a bit long-winded
