11/07/05 The Monster is finally here. Unfortunately it was delayed one week for no known reason and so I ended up missing the last PIR trackday for the year yesterday. Frustrating. But, better late than never - got the call today that the M5 is here and will be ready for pickup late in the day. Cool. I was actually genuinely excited walking down to the dealer (about a 20 minute walk from my house). Don't know how much of it had to do with the car and how much was just part of the massive mood swings I've been experiencing lately, but no matter. I was happy and it was good.

First, to take a quick glance at the car in the service area (initial impression - it looks cooler in person than in pictures and the interior is very nice). Then some pretty painless paperwork and I even got the plates on the spot. This is the biggest single check I've written to date (I've said this before when buying the first Elise and if I go through with the Aston I guess I'll get to say it again soon). Kinda funny. Took the customary route home from the dealer, my favorite twisty road. Unfortunately it's wet, dark and covered with leaves right now but still a proper way to bring a new addition to the garage. Click on the pic below (and above) for larger version.

David and Roy dropped by shortly after the Monster's arrival so we all went for an introductory cruise back on the fun road. The drive was short and of course I held back for a variety of obvious reasons. Still, the car feels a lot smaller than it is. Quite agile for a 4,000 lb sedan. The Conti tires stick quite well on the damp pavement. Steering feel is a little artificial but light and responsive and the wheel is nicely shaped. SMG shifting can be a bit slow on the upshift. Downshifts produce a nice throttle blip. I really wish this was a normal manual transmission - all this electronic gadgetry is a bit too much. And don't even get me started on the iDrive! I never opened the manual when learning sophisticated 3D CAD software, but this thing will require some studying of the multiple books supplied with it. It's very non-intuitive for a modern user interface. Until the first service at 1200 miles some of the more aggressive engine and gearbox modes are disabled, so we'll see what it does once that is complete. The engine note is very nice - subdued but hinting of polished menace. Again, of course, only using a small portion of the rev band and throttle openings. I'm quite lookng forward to exploring what this thinig can really do. I guess I'll have to go to California for trackdays this time of year...

Back in the garage, it's apparent how big the car really is. It makes the Box look tiny sitting next to it and barely clears the lift posts. But clear it does.

Well, I'm pretty tired right now so any further discovery will have till another day. I can hardly wait.

11/08/05 Outside the window this morning it looked like a sunny day, after all the rain we've been having. Time for a drive.

But first, a few obligatory pictures in the driveway. In the daylight the Monster looks as nice as in the dark. Much better to my eyes than the standard 5 series. The color helps too.

I spent some time reading the manual (this is sad ;), programmed the garage door opener, set the active damping to 'Sport' and played with the seat a bit. The range of adjustments is quite impressive. I've never owned a vehicle with so many electric motors - there must be well over a hundred in this thing. No wonder it weighs nearly two tons.

Heading out on the freeway towards Multnomah Falls and the roads that snake through that area, the Monster is very civilized. Only the pleasant growl of the engine and the firmness of the suspension in sport setting give away what lurks beneath the sedan exterior. Once off the concrete and onto some twisty tarmac, things get much more interesting. The roads are alternating long sweepers and tight coils, with plenty of elevation changes. SMG is a lot of fun in this environment. Stretch into the throttle on the long curves, then blip-blip-blip for the tight stuff, squeezing the gas on the way out as the beast claws its way onto the next straight with the DSC light flashing wildly. This is FUN :) It's like a hot dance to the tune of the growling V10. Even staying below 5,500 RPM it has plenty of torque and pushes the big sedan forward with ease. The few pedestrian cars that I encounter are easily dispatched into the mirrors with a firm push on the right pedal, only needing a couple hundred feet visibility ahead. This goes on for a few miles, occasionally having to deal with wet pavement some of which is covered with rotting leaves. Then suddenly a chime announcing the outside temp is near freezing. Sure enough, the next couple of turns show the first dusting of snow. Another mile and we're skating on glare ice - time to turn around. Even turning around requires some thought so as not to get stuck way out here. When I get out for some pics I can barely walk - it is VERY slippery.

The car handles snow and ice reasonably well, all the electronics scrambling to keep the massive tires rolling more or less in the general direction of travel. Still, I wouldn't want to spend much time with it in these conditions. Back down to warmer climes and the relatively higher grip of rotting foliage, I pick the pace back up and blast down the Historic Highway, stopping at a scenic spot along the way.

Then a boring drone along the freeway (100 mph is uneventful, as expected) and back in the garage, after washing all the muck off the sides. Having sampled what the Monster is like in the twisties I'm even more anxious to get the break-in over with and get it on a racetrack. I think it's going to be a blast :)

This is what the garage looks like at the moment, with the Elise still not back from SEMA. The picture made me think of all the shots I've taken of the garage over the last five years and so I put together a separate page of those just for amusement. Change is good :) On the subject of amusement, I now once again own more than 1,000 horsepower - 1,005 to be exact. The Monster is barely more than half of it. Scary indeed :)

11/09/05 Drove around some more. First fillup - 14 gallons for 130 miles. Ouch. No wonder there's a $3,700 gas guzzler tax on the thing. Hopefully it will improve some but I'm not holding my breath. The window sticker says 12 mpg city, 18 highway. And that's probably not driving the way I drive, either. Oh well, I didn't get it for its economy.

Found a few dry, leaf-free twisties a ways out of town and stretched its legs some, DSC off. Going hot into a turn produces initial understeer but a steady push on the gas steps the tail out just a touch but never too far (yet, anyway ;) resulting in a nice neutral drift. This thing likes to corner under power. The Conti tires are a bit of a limitation but overall it can be hustled along pretty well. When pushed this hard you can definitely tell it's a heavy street car rather than a track machine. It goes 'soft at the edges' - track regulars will know what I mean. But it should do fairly well at the track anyway. We'll see what it's like when I can use more than 5,500 rpm :)

Overall I'm enjoying the Monster quite a bit. Apparently it sounds rather unique from the outside, judging by all the swiveling heads. I don't think it's the looks because few civilians would tell it apart from a standard fiver.

Lest you think that this car is going to interfere with the dp1 progress, I went and installed the shifter. Still a few design things to take care of - I'll get on that in the next couple of days.

11/10/05 Went back to one of my favorite back roads and got some video. The road is about 5 minutes each way at this pace. Of course I can't run it all-out because it IS a public road and you have to stay in your lane and expect the unexpected (as you'll see in the clip). However it is a good illustration of the pace the Monster is capable of without trying too hard (below 5,500 rpm and never more than half throttle) and with a good safety margin. The camera mount is a hastily cobbled up industrial velcro job so unfortunately it makes weird crackling noises. Other strange noises in the video are my hands shuffle-steering on the wheel (sounds almost like heavy breathing but it isn't, although I was, let's say, envigorated by this exercise :). So, with all that out of the way, here's the 2.5 minute highlight clip (20M).