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      01-18-2012, 06:41 PM   #8
Horsedoc67
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Drives: 2010 35i Z4 2011 X3 35i
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Ventura, CA

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Quote:
Originally Posted by n55x3 View Post
IMHO if you live anywhere above 5000' a turbo car is the only way to go. I've driven over Eisenhower Pass (11,150') on numerous occasions and the difference between a N/A car and a turbo is night and day. I've been in 300+ hp n/a cars that required multiple downshifts to maintain speed. While I've gone over the pass in ~200 hp turbo motors that purred right up the mountain all while keeping the RPMs decently low.

I haven't driven the X3 over the pass yet but we did take it up the Mt. Washington auto road in NH and it was never at a lack of power. It pulled nicely at low rpms (this ZF 8 spd in normal mode HATES to downshift).
Last fall I drove I-70 from Utah to Kansas over the aforementioned Eisenhower Pass with the outside air temp a warm 70-80 F making the Density Altitude considerably higher than 11,150 ft and I could discern no significant difference in the power and performance of the engine. It felt the same as it does @ sea
level where I live. I know my evaluation is subjective but the way the car blew through the Rockies passing everything effortlessly enforces my belief that nearly full power was available.
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