Can someone tell me what is faster, SMG or Manual, say a BMW M3 SMG or a BMW M3 6 speed?

0-60 and 1/4

thanks a lot.

SMG is likely going to be faster--it can shift faster than you can. SMG is a pretty cool feature. I have never driven an SMG tranny. Personally, if I had the kind of money to go get a new M, I would get the 6-speed. The SMG adds a lot of complexity and things to go wrong as the car gets older that is likely VERY expensive to fix.

Thanks, any more input, any articles out there?

Thanks

All the magazines and all the articles that I have read say that the SMG is faster.

but, We had a race a few months back, Two M3's same model and same options so no weight difference. One was SMG the other 6-spd, now the 6-spd is a little lighter because it doesnt have the mechanical feature that does the shifting, but its not that much. They raced for 1.6 miles from a stand still, the 6-spd beat the SMG by almost 1 light pole. Basically 4-5cars lengths.

At first the SMG is fun, it basically drives like a manual. Actually it is a manual but their is a mechanical unit that does the shifting for you inside the tranny, well thats what I understood from the BMW dealer. You can feel & hear the clutch slip when you drive off and you can feel the car shift like a manual car during upshifts and downshifts. But after a while it gets kinda annoying, its not very smooth and it jerks a little bit. Basically a good driver with a 6-spd will be able to pull a smoother drive.

Every guy I know with a SMG said they regreted not getting a 6-spd.

Plus the shifting is not as fast as what I thought it would be, it definitly isnt as fast as powershifting.

I can see the SMG being faster in the track & being more consistant. Also less work on the driver, he can consentrate on the driving more. But Best motoring did a test between the EVO 5-spd - EVO Auto, Ferrari 360 F1- Ferrari 360 6-spd, M3 6-spd - M3 SMG. And all the manuals were able to beat the auto's.

manuals are more fun... enough said... and in the long run the manual will be faster...

well it says the BMW SMG shifts in .80 milliseconds, and they say no human can shift this fast, what the hell is powershifting? you mean not double clutching?

The car does jerk (a friend of mine has an M3). I would get 6 speed, lots more fun and control of the car.

power shifting is not using the clutch...unless you can rebuild transmissions like nothing then do it. As for double clutching its only when your downshifting. Later

Originally posted by top_end95
power shifting is not using the clutch...unless you can rebuild transmissions like nothing then do it. As for double clutching its only when your downshifting. Later

Click to expand...

No, thats not what I meant. Maybe I thought power shifting was something else.

what I mean is when you do clutch it but you dont take your foot of the gas and you do it very ver quick.

BMW did quote .8 sec but it doesnt seem like that fast honestly. .8sec should be almost instant, but its far from that. It basically feels like very fast shifting.

I like the launch control though.