Teuflin
03-28-2007, 01:51 AM
WooHoo! I had the privilege to drive the Dinan 3 today at work. Their Western Region Sales Rep Izzy was in to talk to our in-house Dinan Specialist who is a friend of mine, so we were introduced right away (quickly followed by an introduction to the car).
I chatted with Izzy for some time about the current and upcoming Dinan mods for the E60 M5. Some pretty exciting shit. They're working on modding the existing 5.0L V10 motor itself to put out 620HP. Currently available on the E60 is suspension, intake and exhaust mods, but coming soon will be the chip and new engine.
He said he was originally going to bring the M5 out, and I was a bit disappointed about that, since the 3 was sitting about 50ft away.
And then I drove the little red 330i that could.
It's an E90 330i with the full Dinan tuning setup: Ram Air Intake, High flow exhaust and throttle body, 20lb 19" wheels and tires (265/35/19 in the front 275/30/19 in the rear) and full suspension and brake overhaul. Spec details can be found at dinancars.com.
From the throaty startup to the well-behaved civilian driving through town to get to the freeway, to breaking loose on 6th Street, this car is a real joy to drive. I love sleepers, and the 330i does sleeper so well. (Nevermind that the Dinan 3 is red). The stock 330i is already a super friendly, confidence inspiring, athletic and capable car, but let Dinan have its way with it and it really is a wolf in sheep's clothing. I started out mellow just to get a feeling for a normal drive through town, compare the weight and responsiveness through the pedals and steering to a stock 330 / 335i (since I drive stock ones all day long at work). Unbeknownst to me, Izzy shut down the DTC while I was downshifting to 2nd, approaching a turn into a busy intersection. Izzy could tell I was about to work the car, so he beat me to the punch, and said "Step on it".
So I did. And holy shit. Fortunately my sideways adventure into the opposite lane resulted in nothing more than a "whoohooo" and a speedy, straight recovery onto I280 at about 65MPH. Normally 6th Street in SF is full of pedestrian and auto traffic all hours of the day. But either Izzy must know what he's doing to feel confident enough to disable traction control and say "step on it" downtown to someone who he's never ridden with, or he's crazy. Probably a little of both.
Freeway driving was buttery smooth, from roadfeel to downshifts and hard braking. The brakes are so damn big that a panic stop from 40MPH didn't even produce the slightest bit of ABS vibration anywhere in the car. The motto "performance without sacrifice" is true to form. Here you have a modest looking, gentle car for driving your parents around town, because the suspension has been "softened". Even though the car is lower, the springs are shorter, the wheels are bigger and the frame is stiffer your don't get that violent, choppy ride that you might expect. In fact, you get an even smoother ride than the factory sport package setup on the E90.
I asked if I could "borrow" the 3 for the track. The long answer was eventually yes, but it would take a lot of organizing. Essentially a sponsorship where Dinan would showcase one or two of their cars at a track event and let people get rides in them. I will have to select a few events in Northern California (likely to be at either Laguna Seca, Thunderhill, Infineon or Buttonwillow down south) and submit the dates to them to see which one(s) work.
Anyone doing any days at any of these tracks and would like to see Dinan bring a car or two out?
I chatted with Izzy for some time about the current and upcoming Dinan mods for the E60 M5. Some pretty exciting shit. They're working on modding the existing 5.0L V10 motor itself to put out 620HP. Currently available on the E60 is suspension, intake and exhaust mods, but coming soon will be the chip and new engine.
He said he was originally going to bring the M5 out, and I was a bit disappointed about that, since the 3 was sitting about 50ft away.
And then I drove the little red 330i that could.
It's an E90 330i with the full Dinan tuning setup: Ram Air Intake, High flow exhaust and throttle body, 20lb 19" wheels and tires (265/35/19 in the front 275/30/19 in the rear) and full suspension and brake overhaul. Spec details can be found at dinancars.com.
From the throaty startup to the well-behaved civilian driving through town to get to the freeway, to breaking loose on 6th Street, this car is a real joy to drive. I love sleepers, and the 330i does sleeper so well. (Nevermind that the Dinan 3 is red). The stock 330i is already a super friendly, confidence inspiring, athletic and capable car, but let Dinan have its way with it and it really is a wolf in sheep's clothing. I started out mellow just to get a feeling for a normal drive through town, compare the weight and responsiveness through the pedals and steering to a stock 330 / 335i (since I drive stock ones all day long at work). Unbeknownst to me, Izzy shut down the DTC while I was downshifting to 2nd, approaching a turn into a busy intersection. Izzy could tell I was about to work the car, so he beat me to the punch, and said "Step on it".
So I did. And holy shit. Fortunately my sideways adventure into the opposite lane resulted in nothing more than a "whoohooo" and a speedy, straight recovery onto I280 at about 65MPH. Normally 6th Street in SF is full of pedestrian and auto traffic all hours of the day. But either Izzy must know what he's doing to feel confident enough to disable traction control and say "step on it" downtown to someone who he's never ridden with, or he's crazy. Probably a little of both.
Freeway driving was buttery smooth, from roadfeel to downshifts and hard braking. The brakes are so damn big that a panic stop from 40MPH didn't even produce the slightest bit of ABS vibration anywhere in the car. The motto "performance without sacrifice" is true to form. Here you have a modest looking, gentle car for driving your parents around town, because the suspension has been "softened". Even though the car is lower, the springs are shorter, the wheels are bigger and the frame is stiffer your don't get that violent, choppy ride that you might expect. In fact, you get an even smoother ride than the factory sport package setup on the E90.
I asked if I could "borrow" the 3 for the track. The long answer was eventually yes, but it would take a lot of organizing. Essentially a sponsorship where Dinan would showcase one or two of their cars at a track event and let people get rides in them. I will have to select a few events in Northern California (likely to be at either Laguna Seca, Thunderhill, Infineon or Buttonwillow down south) and submit the dates to them to see which one(s) work.
Anyone doing any days at any of these tracks and would like to see Dinan bring a car or two out?