Filed under: Sedan, Performance, BMW, First Drives, Luxury
When Truth Crushes Our Enthusiast Souls
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2012/10/2013-bmw-m5-6mt-fd.jpg
American automotive enthusiasts are a crazy bunch. While the rest of the world embraces quick, innovative and efficient dual-clutch automated gearboxes, a good portion of Yankee gearheads still scream for old-school manual transmissions. Despite all of the inadequacies with driver-directed gear changes, car nuts still enjoy rowing their own gears.
BMW tried to force enthusiasts into a single-clutch semi-automatic transmission when it launched the E60 M5 in 2005, but enthusiasts (and the automotive press) wailed so loudly that the Germans reversed course and delivered a six-speed option to the North American market. While performance actually dropped with the manual gearbox, its arrival quelled a rebellion.
The all-new fifth-generation 2013 F10 M5 debuted last fall with a standard - and much improved - lightning-quick dual-clutch transmission. But rather than send North American enthusiasts into yet another frenzy, BMW is adopting a conciliatory tone, offering buyers in the States the chance to opt for a manual gearbox at no additional cost.
We recently found ourselves on the starting grid at California’s Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca sitting in a bright Sakhir Orange Metallic BMW M5. Nestled comfortably in the palm of our right hand, wrapped in soft leather with a bright aluminum collar, was a traditional manual gearshift knob.Continue reading 2013 BMW M5 6MT [w/video]
2013 BMW M5 6MT [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Commentshttp://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/YlhPt7DeqaFp3NXUS2XVPiJXz_Q/0/di
http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/YlhPt7DeqaFp3NXUS2XVPiJXz_Q/1/di
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/weblogsinc/autoblog?i=huFWOgmRjts:TJQtKYC2150:wF9xT3WuBAs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/weblogsinc/autoblog?i=huFWOgmRjts:TJQtKYC2150:V_sGLiPBpWU
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/autoblog/~4/huFWOgmRjts