Diesel to petrol? No thanks!!

[RufRt12]

Has anyone tried a petrol variant of their car and walked away seriously underwhelmed?
After recently toying with the idea of swapping my 2015 D3 for a 2018 B3s someone got in touch to offer me a drive in their F30 B3 and to say that I was unimpressed is an understatement.
Yes, the B3 does sound a whole lot nicer at start up and under acceleration but the torque deficit is abundantly obvious.
Granted I know that the newer ‘S’ model has a touch more BHP but there’s no way I’d consider buying one after today as I doubt it’ll transform it so much so that I’ll blown away by its “real world driving experience”.
What’s more the next generation of D3 is unlikely to eclipse the current D5 in terms of power and torque (in the UK at least) owing to the fact that everything’s now strangled by the use of Adblue thanks to emissions regulations.

Phew... rant over!

[PhillV8S]

Maybe your trying the wrong petrol models, not all petrol models are low on torque.😎

[WINNE1]

Not all petrol models are low on torque!

[Sab]

Maybe your trying the wrong petrol models, not all petrol models are low on torque.😎

Phil - Your car must put out some big numbers surely.

[RufRt12]

Whilst I don't doubt any V8 based car would satisfy my desire for outright shove the stats on the twin turbo'd petrol straight six of the 3 series don't translate to as much of a sense of urgency that I've become accustomed to from my D3.
I think I'll save my money and just invest a couple of grand on a LSD conversion instead.

[Jay964rs]

Very interested in this topic.
Whilst I love my 2015 D3 F31, the next car on my list was a B3 or B3S.
I’m surprised by the lack of torque as the book figures suggest not a huge difference.
Maybe you’ve just saved me a bundle of money and I’ll stick with the D3.

[PhillV8S]

730Nm is the “official” Alpina figure and we all know they declare their engines outputs on the low side (tested in a hot climate with rubbish fuel).😉
It makes more than the V10 M6 peak torque at just 1800rpm.💪🏻
The H1 engine is an awesome powerhouse imho.

[Metrics]

Very interesting thread!

The B3 certainly doesn't lack torque, and Alpina have always been the masters on understanding assessable torque. But the B3 will deliver torque differently to a D, and over a much wider rev range. Did you drive the B3 in manual mode or in auto "S"?

The D engine with it's huge torque low down really works amazingly well with the ZF 8 Spd, and in daily driving pushes you along with no effort. The B isn't so much lacking torque, it's just not so accessible low down and will reward with a bit more driving and revs. And then you'll hear a rather nice soundtrack too!

[RufRt12]

Very interested in this topic.
Whilst I love my 2015 D3 F31, the next car on my list was a B3 or B3S.
I’m surprised by the lack of torque as the book figures suggest not a huge difference.
Maybe you’ve just saved me a bundle of money and I’ll stick with the D3.

Perhaps I should point out that I only drove the car for twenty mins around town and a quick blast up to 80(ish) along the M25 so maybe I've judged it prematurely HOWEVER I was expecting to be thrown into the back seat under heavy acceleration whereas it felt more akin to a train leaving a station platform as opposed to the D3's plane-on-a-runway sensation.

[RufRt12]

730Nm is the “official” Alpina figure

Can I assume you're referring to the diesel engine instead of the petrol one as I'd find that very hard to believe.
I'm not, in any way, trying to trash the B3 for it power delivery it's just that the D3 feels so much more 'urgent' in and around town.

[Metrics]

730Nm is the “official” Alpina figure

Can I assume you're referring to the diesel engine instead of the petrol one as I'd find that very hard to believe.
I'm not, in any way, trying to trash the B3 for it power delivery it's just that the D3 feels so much more 'urgent' in and around town.

730nm is for the B6s - V8 with supercharger

[PhillV8S]

I was referring to the output of my B6s as queried by Sab earlier in the thread. Apologies for clouding the discussion.

[RufRt12]

Very interesting thread!

The B3 certainly doesn't lack torque, and Alpina have always been the masters on understanding assessable torque. But the B3 will deliver torque differently to a D, and over a much wider rev range. Did you drive the B3 in manual mode or in auto "S"?

I only drove the car in automatic 'comfort' mode as, like I said, I wanted to experience it in the same settings that my car's in for 99.9% of the time.

[Metrics]

B3 - 600nm - but look at the torque curve compared with the D3 (700nm)

http://www.thealpinaregister.com/includ ... o/dyno.jpg

http://www.thealpinaregister.com/includ ... o/dyno.jpg

D3 is producing peak torque at 1500rpm, so this is why the low down grunt is so noticeable. The B3 is no slouch, just needs to have more revs used to create that same pull, and then does it over a bigger rev range.

[Metrics]

Very interesting thread!

The B3 certainly doesn't lack torque, and Alpina have always been the masters on understanding assessable torque. But the B3 will deliver torque differently to a D, and over a much wider rev range. Did you drive the B3 in manual mode or in auto "S"?

I only drove the car in automatic 'comfort' mode as, like I said, I wanted to experience it in the same settings that my car's in for 99.9% of the time.

Fair enough, but little can touch the D Alpina engine for everyday use and low down punch, it really is a fantastic daily driver engine. And mated to the ZF, it's a truly special drivetrain.