Onehots2k

I am in 100% agreement. My Father's 192hp 3500lb 325ci does give better feel than my s2000.

RED MX5

I guess I need to drive a 3 series to see for myself, but it wouldn't surprise me. Is the 3 series steering speed sensitive?

Wildncrazy

I disagree. Run your car with minimal caster and then run it with max caster - I have. My alignment guy and I experimented with almost 20 different alignments to get one that suited the way I drive.

With minimal caster the car feels almost like the tires are floating over the surface. When you float over the surface you don't feel the changes as well. Increasing caster increased the heaviness of the steering response and therefore gave a better feel. It is hard to explain in that I don't mean a heavy wheel is a better feel and then in a way I do mean that. With the increased resistance in the wheel you can feel road changes more because the increased effort allows you to feel the changes affecting the wheel. I don't know if I've explained it well, but all I gotta say is go try it, I did.

It also has the benefit of the increased camber when the wheel is turned. This in turn gives better tire life since you don't have to run as much neg camber as you would with less caster. This is good on a mostly street driven car.

RACER

[QUOTE=Wildncrazy,Dec 27 2007, 09:27 PM]I disagree.

RACER

It's a well known documented fact that increasing the angle of the steering pivot points, farther forward at the bottom (known as caster) makes the steering feel heavier, thus making the vehicle very stable. (straight line stability)

INTJ

"feel" is such a nebulous complaint. The steering feel is excellent in this car. The tires that come stock don't have much communication through the wheel. Put something more R-oriented and you will change your impression.

The 3 series does have excellent steering communication. Is it better than ours? I don't think so. The e46 m3 steering components (angles of the arms/rack position/assist) do a great job of communicating increasing load on the tire in a progressive way. But the precision of the tracking was always a little off for me. The s2k does not communicate tire loading as well for me, but feels much more precise, and has much sharper turn-in.

Part of the issue is that the car has much flatter steering response due to the dbl a-arm and the loading is not quite as discernable. I also think that with the rear tires so close, that a lot of the loading is going to the back of the car, creating the perception that the front is not working, the opposite of the 6 cyl bimmers.

I think it was road and track in their big recent comparo that said small people loved the steering and big people hated the steering of the car, all based on the relative fit of the person.

RACER

Install stiffer springs, and high quality dampeners if you want to feel a pebble in the road