318 ti/Compact
The premium compact sport sedan market segment -- a category so breathless that it cannot afford commas. NYT.
e36: 1995-2001
Here is Shawn Collins in his 1996 Sport at turn 5a at Mosport Park, Ontario.
e46: 2002-?:
Here is the new e46 Compact.
Features
These features add usefulness but not weight:- One touch door window open/close.
- One touch sunroof open, in either direction.
- Door windows and sunroof can be closed by the key in the doorlock.
After locking the door with a key, continue to hold the key in the lock position.
After a second or so, the windows then sunroof will close. - The instruments can be tested and have a diagostic mode.
- The radio has weatherband.
- The door arm rest is formed so as to provide an excelllent thigh bolster.
- The speedometer needle never obscures any other data, e.g., an odometer, because the odometer and trip odometer are placed outside of the area swept by the speedometer needle, thus the speedometer needle never blocks any odometer digit.
- One stalk controlls both the front and rear wipers:
- tap once for on,
- tap once again for off;
- or double-tap for one quick swipe
- If you put the wipers on intermittent, they actually stop (are reset to off when you turn off the ignition) when you do.
- The interior door opening levers are high above the occupants legs.
making them easy
to reach by somebody sitting in the car, with the door closed.
Bugs
- The cargo tie-down straps are attached only to the carpet; much better would be to have floor mounted aluminum tracks with sliding hooks, as in an aircraft or the 1999 SAAB 9-3 wagon.
- The ASC+T aka launch control switch is obscured by the steering wheel and this switch has poor feel: is ASC+T on or off ? How fast can I tell by feel ? It would be better to have a rocker switch on the main console.
- The exhuast tip sways and melts the rear valence panel.
- The seats are form fitting but don't have any air circulation, which can make them too hot and sticky. In contrast to an Aeron chair with Pellicle fabric, or a SAAB with perforated upholstery and an extraction fan within the seat. or a Mercedes with a gap between the seat bottom and seat back, all of which are cooler to sit in on a hot day. A ribbed design might also work better.
- The air conditioning is insufficient for a black car in northern California; it's likely vastly insufficient for Arizona or Miami.
- The front window defogger is insufficient; it takes up to five minutes to clear a fogged windshield (with no frost or ice) upon starting a parked car.
- The mirrors need but do not have preset memories; three would be ideal:
- Down, for parking;
- Up, for driving;
- Up and out, for driving of five lane freeways.
- The TI's handling is degraded significanly when carrying a load (2 people and luggage, instead of usual solo driver with 10 kg briefcase). This degradation is more significant than in my old A2 Neuspeed VW Jetta.
S Curve
"The first time I threw the car into a sharp U-turn the back end started to drift a bit, I gave it more gas, and it just dug in".This is a difficult technique to master. A little gas and the inside wheel slips and the brake is applied. On the gas a little longer and the ASC+T cuts the fuel off -- then it takes two seconds to recover.
How to best appreciate the TI
Crest a rise at the same time as making the inflection on an S curve. At the crest, the car doesn't have a lot of grip, so it relies on balance, and responsiveness -- on having understeer or oversteer on demand.
The Original: 2002ti:
the antique Compact.
"I always try to find the line that lets me get back on the throttle as early as possible since my car is unlikely to spin out under power, but needs to build RPMs as early as possible".
