"Bill Caswell" (billcaswell)
05/18/2015 at 18:45 • Filed to: None
1
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"Bill Caswell" (billcaswell)
05/18/2015 at 18:45 • Filed to: None | 1
| 21 |
BMW is the most winning manufacturer at the 24hrs of the Nurburgring. They started on pole for this past weekend’s 24hrs of the Nurburgring and even placed 2nd which I guess I should be happy about. But in the past 17 years they have only won 3 times. Yet in the 15 years prior to that... they only lost 3 times... What happened?
http://buildraceparty.com/bmw-loses-at-t…
sm70- why not Duesenberg?
> Bill Caswell
05/18/2015 at 18:49 |
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The X6.
AM
> Bill Caswell
05/18/2015 at 18:50 |
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What happened is BMW is losing their racing identity in an attempt to remain the top selling luxury brand. To me it seems like they’re more focused on selling luxo-barges than they are on racing and sports cars. Look at the N63 engine, it’s not doing so well.
MultiplaOrgasms
> Bill Caswell
05/18/2015 at 19:09 |
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Well it’s not like BMW doesn’t give a shit about Motorsport anymore. If they weren’t they wouldn’t bother with Motorsport at all. It’s just that there are a lot of equally strong competitors around, and as it happens their efforts were more successful the past few years.
Viggen
> Bill Caswell
05/18/2015 at 19:11 |
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Audi came with a 2016 spec R8 LMS and BMW came with what is now a long in tooth Z4 GT3.
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MultiplaOrgasms
> AM
05/18/2015 at 19:18 |
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How about the competition has become incredibly strong as well? The old Z4 can’t do much against the newer Audis and Porsches.
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AM
> MultiplaOrgasms
05/18/2015 at 19:20 |
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While most likely the reason, I’m sticking to my story. I just don't like BMW anymore.
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MultiplaOrgasms
> AM
05/18/2015 at 19:29 |
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I dislike most of BMWs latest business decisions as well, but I don’t really care about motorsport as much as others and so I tend to be more of a realist about it. Motorsport is all about the competition between manufacturers and therefore the best one shall win.
extraspecialbitter
> Viggen
05/18/2015 at 19:48 |
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Very long. It really is a shame. I like that Marc VDS livery.
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AM
> MultiplaOrgasms
05/18/2015 at 19:51 |
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To tell the truth I don't care about motorsport as much as I used to. My OP was basically what I think of the company since it was a BMW article.
m2m, apex detective
> Bill Caswell
05/18/2015 at 19:59 |
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One word:
Werksteam
. That’ll fix it. Bring the colours and the money and they’ll be right up there once more.
I felt that something was rotten when they renamed the trim levels ... as of now, the 1-Series exists with the trims
Advantage, Urban Line,
or
Sport Line
here in Germany
.
If that’s not innovative naming, I don’t know, right!? To make things worse, they even spell it out on the front fender. URBAN LINE.
Weee!
On the upside, their interiors are a lot nicer these days.
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m2m, apex detective
> Viggen
05/18/2015 at 20:01 |
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It has the very sweet engine from the M3 GTS, though. They should just stuff that into a 2-Series and call it a day.
Wait a minute – they could freak out the world by bringing a 3-Series Touring with that engine. I could so dig a M-tricolore
Dreier Rennkombi.
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m2m, apex detective
> sm70- why not Duesenberg?
05/18/2015 at 20:04 |
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Not boding well for the future.
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Viggen
> extraspecialbitter
05/18/2015 at 20:08 |
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As do I. The Z4 GT3 is my favorite GT3 car.
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Bill Caswell
> MultiplaOrgasms
05/18/2015 at 21:03 |
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More successful in the past few years? How about the past 17 years? BMW has only won 3 times since 1998. The article I wrote points that out as well, but there were Porsches and Ferraris and Fords and other back in the day, BMW was just better...at building cars...at winning races. For a company that recently earned 2.2 billion euros in the last 90 days(pre tax) you would think they could build a proper racecar or build a production car that can compete with Audi, Mercedes, Porsche...
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Bill Caswell
> Viggen
05/18/2015 at 21:06 |
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Im impressed they finished 2nd in a lot of ways when you look at the Black Falcon Mercedes and other cars on the grid. And yes the Audi was quick but at least its based on a car you can buy. Sure its a full blown racecar but the z4 is convertible. Nothing about it is even remotely close to the production car. If you’re going to build a racecar with a silhouette body, build a race car that can win!
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Bill Caswell
> AM
05/18/2015 at 21:07 |
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I couldn’t agree more with you statement.
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Bill Caswell
> MultiplaOrgasms
05/18/2015 at 21:08 |
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And the new Audi’s and Porsches are actually production based cars unlike the BMW Z4 which is nothing like the car in the dealership. Not even the bodywork looks similar. And I think we forget that during the 15 years where they only lost three races they still had Ferrari and Porsche and Corvette and Mercedes to compete with. Something has changed and it sucks.
Axial
> Bill Caswell
05/18/2015 at 21:52 |
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What happened? Everybody else got better and BMW remained stagnant.
Do What Now?
> Bill Caswell
05/18/2015 at 22:44 |
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Don’t you have another embarrassing public temper tantrum to throw after your fiancee ditches you on facebook again?
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Viggen
> Bill Caswell
05/18/2015 at 23:28 |
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The Black Falcon SLS GT3s have always been fast. But clearly the Nurburgring does not pick favorites.
The Z4 GT3 is a brilliant car. While it’s not as fast on the straights it makes up for it in the corners. Though why BMW didn’t make an M3 GT3 instead of the Z4 is beyond me; they already had GT2 and GT4 M3s. I really wish BMW had offered an S65 powered E89 Z4M Coupe. That’d be my dream BMW, surpassing an E92 M3 or 3.0 CSL.
Maybe BMW and Marc VDS will have redemption at Spa?
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MultiplaOrgasms
> Bill Caswell
05/19/2015 at 01:19 |
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What happened was that the race shifted from a supporting event for the 1000km Nürburgring aimed at amateurs to something bigger, more spectacular and expensive. Pre 1999, almost all participating teams were local amateurs and privateers, and the cars were production-near Group N touring cars, such as normal BMW M3s and so on. In the 28 years before 1999, all winners were driving either a BMW, a Porsche or a Ford. Those were literally the only manufacturers that won the race, and almost none of the winning teams were factory teams. What happened in 1999 was that the VLN also allowed FIA GT cars to participate. This of course opened the race up for cars like the Viper GTS-R, Corvette C5R, 911GT3 RSR and so on. Since then all race winners were driving GT2 or GT3 cars, with the exception of 2003 when a DTM Opel won. The N24 has become a much bigger, more international event in the new millenium. BMWs glory days were during the amateur era, and BMWs continue to be successful in the production car classes.