Test Drove a Volt Today - BMW M5 Owner

[cnicholson]

The M series BMW's....lack the raw fury of a proper sports car

Great comments/perspective overall, and I agree with respect to chassis and handling on the track. But, from a public roads perspective, I think they fit the bill. The sound, fury and thrust of an E60 M5 accelerating from 100MPH to 130-ish in 4th gear with its naturally aspirated V10 winding up to ~8300 has never failed to get a wide grin from any car nut I have met.

This "passing power" at freeway speed is the one clear shortfall of the Volt versus sporty ICE sedans, IMHO. Off the line, they are fine, but I wish the aggressive squirt from 65 to 85mph were a bit quicker...

[cab]

Nice comment about the balance of handling and ride quality in BMWs, I agree. They are absolutely superb in this regard, in my limited experience of driving them. I've never owned one as when I see, smell, drive them they just possess me with no desire to have them.

For whatever its worth, I'll throw out some comments

First, when driving a vehicle, you kind of need to drive it from the viewpoint of its purpose. For example, in the garage at the house i'm at now is a vintage Land Rover with 3 locking differentials a winch a built in shovel, a Volt, a 500hp sports car that goes zoom. The former is good for about 60mph on the highway, 50-55 up hills, you can get it up to 70 around town. Its steering, brakes, NVH, and everything else would be beyond apalling when compared to any modern vehicle. But thats not the point. The point is to give the driver a sense of adventure and to let you drive through terrain impassable to the average pickup, much less car. And to be fun and cool and make you feel like a 10 year old kid at play. It accomplishes these tasks with aplomb.

The zoom car is beyond apalling on the highway. It gets 10mpg, so much vibration comes through the controls that my hands literally go numb driving it a couple hundred miles ont he highway (which I do as rarely as absolutely possible). It lacks cruise control and has the worst radio ever put in a modern car. Its NVH measure would be even worse than the Land Rovers. But here's the thing, thats not the point. The point is to make alot of good noise and go fast and make a driver feel like Mario Andretti, and a 10 year old boy at play. Accomplished with aplomb. But here's the thing, the BMW crowd would absolutely gawk and drool and pant over it....

The Volt's point is to use very little gas. The M series BMW's point seems to be to try to be all things to everybody, a sort of jack of all trades. But the thing with that is... (personal opinion), they just aren't. They lack the raw fury of a proper sports car, they lack the ease of a proper luxury car. To many people they are the bomb-diggity, I've just never been able to get into them.

I think car magazines forget that cars have different points. They sort of write as if the point of any car is to be a sports car. HArder is better, faster is better, etc. The point of a Cadillac DTS is not any of those things, but in my view it accomplishes its point marvelously. Ditto an F150.

But I digress into one of my favorite topics: cars.

If I may address your points.

1. No disagreement that it isn't a true beauty, but I like the looks of the car. I can't think of a beautiful modern BMW... now, an E30 M3... THATS beautiful. Opinions vary.

2. Orange peel will exist whenever something is painted, perfectly smooth surfaces are typically molded. A Ferrari has orange peel to some extent, so does a Lamborghini or a Bentley. I'll take painted over molded. Would you like a molded plastic Ferrari exterior? I think the paint inside the Volt is something car makers should have been doing for years.

3. The power is pretty epic compared to a Prius (similar in purpose/point...). lol. Its of course not as fast as a big V8. But its just awesome to have a 100+ mpg car with MORE than enough power to get ahead of a line from a light if need be.

4. NVH. I can't recall driving anything as quiet around town as the Volt for anywhere near 40k. Its serene. It makes the car. On the interstate at speed it is noisier, tire noise being the biggest contributing factor, I agree. I think alot of people are coming from Prii, and the Volt is (as you mention) an epic achievement relative to those.

5. For ride/handling my take is this: the Volt could use a true independent rear suspension, its regrettable that it doesn't have it. I assume that the ELR will. It also has conventional shocks, certainly difficult to make those as good as modern magnetic shocks, etc. They made the right choice to keep it softly sprung... But the thing is, the car handles better than it has any right to as a conventional car with soft springs in my view. It lacks grip, as the tires simply aren't grippy at all, but its behavior in cornering is one of the big positive surprises for me. I was expecting much worse. Get out of an LP560 and drive a BMW and it will feel impossibly sloppy, drive alot of different cars from time to time and you could appreciate both the LP and the BMW. I drive all kinds of things, and the Volt impresses me in this department! (again, consider the purpose and market niche of the car. it was never meant to be a sports car).

6. The Volt has regenerative braking, so when you first hit the pedal you aren't engaging brakes, at some rate of deceleration conventional friction brakes kick in. No doubt that this type of system does not have the kind of pedal feel of a sports car. It just doesn't maybe won't for a long time in any car. But its a far sight better than the Gen 2 Prius's braking system, and a pretty good overall integration. ITs just the nature of the beast: brake feel in electric cars is bunk at this time.

7. Steering is numb and doesn't weight up like a sports cars, but its exceedingly accurate and again I give it props considering what the car is.

8. I confuse my Volt with having the solidity of a 3 series every time I drive it. Its never rattled, etc. I love that about the car.

But one more comment about cars and test driving them and remembering that each one has a purpose.

I recently took my Mom shopping in my Ferrari. She judged it from the perspective of her set of car priorities, as she could care less about noise and turning and going really stupid fast, her comment was "honestly, Brian, this car doesn't ride as good as a Cadillac, and its not as quiet either". She gently suggested that perhaps I could trade it off on a Caddy.

My old Land Rover? Its awful by any reasonable metric. It gets 15mpg, it has more rattles, clunks, concerning grinding noises, squeaks and clanks than anything I've ever driven, its rusty, it rides nearly as well as a dump truck,a nd it goes 0-60 (i don't know how long it takes, but it can do it). If someone drove it looking for a family SUV that could seat tons of people (it can), they would vomit and run screaming away from the thing because, to them, it would be awful. But its engine is waterproof and it has locking diff's and its cool to some crazy kind of extreme. Its FUN. And it would draw a crowd outside of the same pub or restaurant that their choice in SUV would be invisible at. Different priorities, different purposes, different points.

An S2000 is awful for, lets see, practicality, NVH, the early ones can be alarmingly tail happy, its tons of work to keep that tiny little motor revving high enough to move the car... But man its fun. I love those things. It accomplished its purpose pretty marvelously. Driving an S2000 does one lament the lack of 500 ft lbs of torque that a big Vette might supply? Naw, you're having too much fun to worry about that.

As far as I am able to judge, the ride, noise, handling and fun factor of the Volt is just off the charts when viewed from the perspective of its purpose. And, to be honest, I've never wished I was in a 3 series or an A4 when driving the Volt, except maybe at interstate speeds. But the Volt's sound system sounds better (Boston Acoustics here, not Bose) and it still gets ~40mpg at those speeds even after its battery is dead. And its displays are entertaining and provide driving fun of a different kind.

Try driving a Volt for its purpose (or Prius for that matter), and you might discover a different kind of driving fun.
For example, a friend of mine recently got a Prius due to a new long commute and desire to not waste gas. One day he was complaining that it was no fun to drive. So I bet him dinner that I could get better mileage driving it than him and we had a little contest. I won, I had a Prius for a couple years and I'm a pretty decent hyper miler I think. And he had fun. I bet he has had some fun since trying to eek out some extra miles from each gallon.

The Volt is super, super fun that way. It adds fun to driving to try to get above 5 m/kWh. I'm rambling and I will cease, but I hope these thoughts have been interesting.

OP here.

Brian - great response. Ultimately, it comes down to (as you point out) a change in priority for me. The Volt simply is not as good as my current M5 at doing certain things or being a certain thing. Conversely, the same thing can be said about the BMW. A friend of mine - an E39 M5 owner - recently considered a new Cadillac CTS-V or a Volt. Again, amazing as these two cars are at the opposite ends of the spectrum in many ways. Ultimately, the CTS-V was his choice. I don't think he was ready to give up having an awesome, high luxury powerful sports sedan with effortless power everywhere and the joy or rowing his own gears (and pain sometimes). Over time, I think the pendulum will start to swing for a lot of the "car guys" out there. I mean if you've had 2 or 3 super sedans, a 911, Viper, whatever...where do you go from there? The subsequent generations of the super cars are sort of even more of the same. The Volt is sort of the car equivalent of Monty Python's "...and now for something completely different."
The question for me will ultimately come down to "Am I willing to give up the things the BMW is best at for the things the Volt is best at?".

I'll just remind folks, my comparison is "what else can I buy for $35-$37.5" - not necessarily new to new. That price point has a LOT of options - used E60 M5s and E9x M3s, year or so old 3 series and 5 series, Audis, etc. For some people a warranty is imperative - that's not the case with me, etc. Others, have to have the latest interior tech, etc.

All in all...first world problems!

[Brian Loves Cars]

Great comments/perspective overall, and I agree with respect to chassis and handling on the track. But, from a public roads perspective, I think they fit the bill. The sound, fury and thrust of an E60 M5 accelerating from 100MPH to 130-ish in 4th gear with its naturally aspirated V10 winding up to ~8300 has never failed to get a wide grin from any car nut I have met.

This "passing power" at freeway speed is the one clear shortfall of the Volt versus sporty ICE sedans, IMHO. Off the line, they are fine, but I wish the aggressive squirt from 65 to 85mph were a bit quicker...

Without any doubt my lack of passion for BMW M's leaves me in the minority. You are right, the majority of car enthusiasts love those things. I have not one time heard a V10 M5 at full song, as a side note. I'll say this... if I had to have just one car... they would get alot more intriguing. But if a garage has multiple cars, I just can't find a place for one vs having a true commuter car, a true sports car, etc.

[Brian Loves Cars]

OP here.

Brian - great response. Ultimately, it comes down to (as you point out) a change in priority for me. The Volt simply is not as good as my current M5 at doing certain things or being a certain thing. Conversely, the same thing can be said about the BMW. A friend of mine - an E39 M5 owner - recently considered a new Cadillac CTS-V or a Volt. Again, amazing as these two cars are at the opposite ends of the spectrum in many ways. Ultimately, the CTS-V was his choice. I don't think he was ready to give up having an awesome, high luxury powerful sports sedan with effortless power everywhere and the joy or rowing his own gears (and pain sometimes). Over time, I think the pendulum will start to swing for a lot of the "car guys" out there. I mean if you've had 2 or 3 super sedans, a 911, Viper, whatever...where do you go from there? The subsequent generations of the super cars are sort of even more of the same. The Volt is sort of the car equivalent of Monty Python's "...and now for something completely different."
The question for me will ultimately come down to "Am I willing to give up the things the BMW is best at for the things the Volt is best at?".

I'll just remind folks, my comparison is "what else can I buy for $35-$37.5" - not necessarily new to new. That price point has a LOT of options - used E60 M5s and E9x M3s, year or so old 3 series and 5 series, Audis, etc. For some people a warranty is imperative - that's not the case with me, etc. Others, have to have the latest interior tech, etc.

All in all...first world problems!

Nice thread, btw, you maybe have a talent for sparking conversation...!

Thats a really, really good comment about the tide turning for people who have had some sports cars, etc. They then start looking for something new, a new kind of automotive thrill. The Volt, for me, has provided that in spades. I've truly enjoyed having it.

I'll go this: if I had to have one car. It'd be an F150 Raptor. Those are cool, there would never be a single day of winter I couldn't drive it, and I could still have fun offroading it. If it had to be a car, ... I'd probably go with your friend and run after a CTS-V. Those things are just cool. If I had to have just one vehicle, maybe it wouldn't be the Volt. But as it stands I've never had a vehicle that, all around and for its purpose, I've liked better than the Volt. Its my all time favorite car.

[awm]

The Volt has instantly become the favorite car of our family to run errands around town. Both European cars (a sedan and a SUV my wife calls "the tank" due to its size) sit in the driveway despite their luxury feel the Volt cannot hold a candle against. On speeds up to 50 miles/h, the Volt is extremely quiet and the ride quality excellent. Cornering is certainly not great but much better than expected and perfectly fine for the typical suburban roads and highways - for curvy and steep mountain roads, it probably would need the suspension and power of a Tesla but that would come with a steep premium (hey, that's where the ELR can come into play!). The car it replaced (Infiniti G35 with sport suspension and 19" wheels) was extremely fun to drive but had its shortcomings: a rough ride and an engine roar that was music to the ears for the first 10 minutes but turned annoying on longer trips.

[sgtpokey]

Objectively, I know what you mean. In my personal experience I'm familiar with both "value" cars and luxury sport cars. I will also admit that the volt does not quite live up to the all that luxury+sport implies but is more than halfway between the two types (If i rated it between a Honda civic/accord vs an Audi, I'd put it 75% of the way towards Audi).

Having said that I'm buying a volt today over a BMW 3 or 5 series (or a top end Ford Focus for that matter) ... If I'm honest with myself I don't need the ultimate driving performance but still need the "cachet" of a non-vanilla car.

[mfennell]

Without any doubt my lack of passion for BMW M's leaves me in the minority. You are right, the majority of car enthusiasts love those things. I have not one time heard a V10 M5 at full song, as a side note. I'll say this... if I had to have just one car... they would get alot more intriguing. But if a garage has multiple cars, I just can't find a place for one vs having a true commuter car, a true sports car, etc.

You have nailed me precisely. When I only had room for one car, I had an E36 M3. Once I had space for more, I started diverging into having a couple true sports cars and something more comfortable for day-to-day. Pre-Volt, I was driving a 2000 Jaguar XJR day-to-day.

[cab]

You have nailed me precisely. When I only had room for one car, I had an E36 M3. Once I had space for more, I started diverging into having a couple true sports cars and something more comfortable for day-to-day. Pre-Volt, I was driving a 2000 Jaguar XJR day-to-day.

I've considered that, but what I fear would happen is what I see happen all too often...the "fun" car ends up getting driven progressively less and less and ultimately the owner decides to sell it because they just can't justify keeping a car they rarely drive (assuming money is at all important). The beauty of the M5 is that it was a the "sports car" you could live with and drive every day (at least in theory). I would argue the only thing that really makes the M5 less than exciting as a daily driver is the stick shift (and those are getting to be pretty rare these days). Heck, we took my M5 with 5 of us the other day because my wife's SUV was smaller! Now my wife did say to me on Sunday..."Maybe you could wait a little while and consider keeping the M5 AND get a Volt"...Win!

[Slapshot28]

Now my wife did say to me on Sunday..."Maybe you could wait a little while and consider keeping the M5 AND get a Volt"...Win!

I had the exact opposite experience with my '95 540i Sport (which I adored). My wife said, "When you get your Volt, you have to sell the BMW." ...Groan!

By the way, she was right--there is no way that my BMW would get any use, except if one of my sons was borrowing the Volt!

[mfennell]

I've considered that, but what I fear would happen is what I see happen all too often...the "fun" car ends up getting driven progressively less and less and ultimately the owner decides to sell it because they just can't justify keeping a car they rarely drive (assuming money is at all important).

The driving less part has certainly happened to me (and a 3yo daughter doesn't help!) but that's just fine. In some respects, I enjoy the other cars all the more when I do get to drive them.