2011 Supersport v 2012 Alpina B7 driving impressions
#1
06-09-2012, 09:33 AM
2011 Supersport v 2012 Alpina B7 driving impressions
My daily driver for the past 5 months has been a supersport. Great car, no issues (except need to take the car to the dealer for the roof creak fix). I got the chance to swap cars for a few hours with a BMW alpina b7 and as I was thinking of both before I got the ss I thought there may be others on the forum that had similar thoughts. As an aside I am no speed demon and never use launch control etc on a car. I do like a car to have good responses and good handling though.
There are a few items where the b7 shines,
1. the I drive v touch screen is a complete win for BMW-it seems a generation ahead of the jag.
2. It seems much more planted on interstate driving than the jag probably due to its weight
3. Very surprisingly I'd give it a slight edge on interior quality and everything tactile such as door handles. It just seems slightly better built. I still love the leather headliner on the ss though.
That being said I bought the supersport more for the driving feel than for for anything else. When I bought it I was test driving a Maserati quattroporte and wanted to drive the jag to confirm that the maser felt more sporty. I was amazed at the jag driving better than the maser and consequently bought one.
Versus the b7 the ss feels much more sporty and way more agile. It drives like a much smaller car than the b7 with much better throttle response. There is a definite time lag on the b7 when you use the throttle that is just not there on the ss. As such the jag feels a lot more special whereas the b7 feels more like the very powerful but big car that it is. After driving mine the b7 owner commented on his lack of throttle response and is looking at getting the dinan software on the alpina to give it more low down pull. He might also want to look at cutting 600lbs from the cars weight
In summary the jag feels much more akin to a e63 merc (my prior drive) than the b7. The e63 is however no comparison in terms of interior quality-it seems very low rent compared to the jag.
As for the twisties I have no idea as I live in fl.
There are a few items where the b7 shines,
1. the I drive v touch screen is a complete win for BMW-it seems a generation ahead of the jag.
2. It seems much more planted on interstate driving than the jag probably due to its weight
3. Very surprisingly I'd give it a slight edge on interior quality and everything tactile such as door handles. It just seems slightly better built. I still love the leather headliner on the ss though.
That being said I bought the supersport more for the driving feel than for for anything else. When I bought it I was test driving a Maserati quattroporte and wanted to drive the jag to confirm that the maser felt more sporty. I was amazed at the jag driving better than the maser and consequently bought one.
Versus the b7 the ss feels much more sporty and way more agile. It drives like a much smaller car than the b7 with much better throttle response. There is a definite time lag on the b7 when you use the throttle that is just not there on the ss. As such the jag feels a lot more special whereas the b7 feels more like the very powerful but big car that it is. After driving mine the b7 owner commented on his lack of throttle response and is looking at getting the dinan software on the alpina to give it more low down pull. He might also want to look at cutting 600lbs from the cars weight
In summary the jag feels much more akin to a e63 merc (my prior drive) than the b7. The e63 is however no comparison in terms of interior quality-it seems very low rent compared to the jag.
As for the twisties I have no idea as I live in fl.
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Jffcurt (06-10-2012)
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