BMW 330 ZHP vs non-BMW ZHP power delivery

[nk_zhp]

Yesterday I had a friendly game of full throttling with another non ZHP 330Ci (pre-facelift). I was actually surprised in the difference. Mid range, 3rd gear, I was behind him. At the top of the rev range still in the 3rd gear I have already switched lanes, passed and was getting ready to tuck back in.

Professional drivers on closed course of course.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

I like your last line. Hehe.

[az3579]

Mods make a difference. You didn't mention the modded status of either...

[Kudos]

So your saying that a zhp was slower than a non zhp until 3rd gear?? nvm, so it was a 3rd gear race then?

[MasterC17]

This actually could make some sense. In third gear you will be running different RPM's (5-speed vs. 6-speed, etc., etc.). He may have started at higher RPM's and you at lower so he was making more power initially. Any guess at the speed and rpm you started at; if he had a factory differential we could figure out the RPM's he started at. Mods on his car may have also contributed.

[M0nk3y]

330s are 6-speeds

[ZSP-Mafia]

330s are 6-speeds

? Mine isn't. 03' and up only. One thing I've never understood is, why did they put a 6 spd in the non-specials with the 2.93 diff? It just seems to me that the 6th gear would be useless.

[nk_zhp]

After reading back what I wrote I realized that the story would only make sense if you all were in my back seat.

I was leisurely driving behind a 330Ci in 3rd gear somewhere in the middle of the rev range. At one point I noticed the gap between me and him was increasing rapidly. It was clearly that we were playing a game of cat and mouse. As the gap was about 2 cars I went into full throttle. The gap decreased as I had the drafting advantage then a rapid lane change. By the time I was at the red line in the same gear I was entirely ahead of him.

By the way the gearing as far as I know on 5 vs 6 speeds is essentially the same. The difference is the overdrive 6th gear which isn't present on the 5 geared transmission. In both cases the 5th gear is the 1:1 ratio.

[MasterC17]

After reading back what I wrote I realized that the story would only make sense if you all were in my back seat.

I was leisurely driving behind a 330Ci in 3rd gear somewhere in the middle of the rev range. At one point I noticed the gap between me and him was increasing rapidly. It was clearly that we were playing a game of cat and mouse. As the gap was about 2 cars I went into full throttle. The gap decreased as I had the drafting advantage then a rapid lane change. By the time I was at the red line in the same gear I was entirely ahead of him.

By the way the gearing as far as I know on 5 vs 6 speeds is essentially the same. The difference is the overdrive 6th gear which isn't present on the 5 geared transmission. In both cases the 5th gear is the 1:1 ratio.

Ahah, it makes a lot more sense now. I guess the draft and the ZHP Awesome factor is why you won . The gear ratio differences between the 5 and 6 speed are close, but the 6 is slightly closer together than the 5. In third gear at the same speed, you would actually have the advantage - unless of course he was in second which I highly doubt. I don't think the 6-Speed came to the Coupes until they were facelifted in 04.

[terraphantm]

Makes sense... The ZHP engine always felt a good bit stronger than the non-ZHP M54B30s to me. Now it might lose a little bit of torque in the low-end since hotter cams tend to do that, but the high-end advantage is definitely there. The standard M54B30 feels like it runs out of steam a good bit earlier.

Also fwiw, gear ratios are nearly identical between 5-speed and 6-speed... I think the only difference is that 1st is a little shorter (4.35 vs 4.23). Non-ZHPs come with a longer ratio diff, but the top-speed advantage is negated by the lower redline. The two-cars should be topping out the gears at the same speeds, with the ZHP reaching the top-speeds slightly quicker in each gear thanks to the little bit of extra power.