TLofNYC

So I'm driving to work this morning and me and this BMW are speeding along. We both pull up to a light and we give each other "the look" . I'm in '03 TL-S, he's in '02 540i. Light turns green, we both gun, I take off to a quick lead, i gun it some more, now he's about 1 1/2 car lenghts behind me. After blowing his doors off we pull up to the next light. He asked what I had in the car, I told him all stock. He is also all stock, but he has 290HP V8. I wasn't even using the stick shift.

How is this possible? He has bigger engine and more HP. Is it just that I was driving more aggresive , or is the TL-S just faster off the line......??

SHINY TL-13

I thought 540s were pushing more than 290HP but I could be wrong.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Earlier models were rated at 290 hp, although the later ones were cranking out 300+.

Good kill.

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Musta been a bad driver.

02 540i
Power @ rpm, hp 290 @ 5400
Torque @ rpm, lb-ft. 324 @ 3600
Acceleration, 0-60 mph
man - 6.2 secs
auto - 6.1 secs

TLofNYC

Or maybe I'm just an excellent driver.. ..lol

-Rz-UA5

or maybe a re-badged 528i
Just like those 325i with M3 badge

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

No, a 528i would be further back than 1 1/2 car lengths.

It's only one (or two) tenth of a second faster than the TL-S (TL-S is rated at 6.3 seconds). It's all in the driver.

99TLHeather

Maybe he didn't take care of his car and ran like sh*t

00REDTL

BEAMERS don't have that instant power/tire squealing burst right off the line. they are somehow programmed to accelerate smoothly without that bang off the line. My brother has one and I eat him everytime at first but then he starts catching up

TLofNYC

That would explain things, because we were racing on the street, not Highway.

SatinSilverTypS

iTrader: (1)

most mercedes are programmed to start in second for a smoother take off. they will then downshift to first when power is requested. the beamers might be set up with the same idea in mind. either way good kill!

SSTS

mclarenf3387

Yea they do. I know a guy who can do a burn-out just fine in his 530. Our family friends also have a 540 and you can light them up with the traction control off.

A RWD V-8 off the line would eat a stock TL-S with a decent driver.

TLofNYC

my Tl only has 7,000 miles on it, would that explain why it is so quick off the line?

LiQiCE

Horsepower isn't everything, you need to look at the whole picture.

The '02 540i is a heavy ass car, it weighs nearly 2 tons (3803 lbs curb weight). It has gobs of torque to get it moving (324 ft-lbs max torque @ 3600 rpms), but its still a pig.

An automatic 540i runs about a 14.3 @ 97mph in the 1/4 mile (Reference: Car and Driver, September 2001), faster than a '03 TL-S stock though.

Could be anything ... maybe it was a 6spd and the guy sucks at shifting, he left his traction control on and it slowed the car down, or maybe he wasn't even trying and just wanted to see what you could do.

In any case, good kill!

etxxz

TL-S has the same 0-60times and worse 1/4mi times (looked 2 online references)
unless he wansn't really racing in which case you either floored it first or looked like a complete ja*****

stiletto

What I don't understand is how you "both gun, I take off to a quick lead, i gun it some more". When I am in auto and beatin' on some yuppie-azz beammer, when I "gun it" it stays gunned untill i get bored or i'm forced to slow down... Unless you have a boost button that squirts, I can't see how you were gunning it and then you gunned it some more... good kill by the way.

FFWDGRAPHX

So what exactly did you do, if you weren't using the "sport shifter"? Did you just have it on D4 and floored it? Or did you go from 1 to D4?

JQ.