2011 BMW 335is – First Drive

Here's something new: For once North America will be getting a special performance edition of a popular European model that the Europeans won't receive (at least for now). This performance edition shall be known as the 335is and it comes courtesy of our friends at BMW North America.
The is ("i" for injection, as in fuel, and "s" for sport, as in fun) follows a tradition of s-badged sport-enhanced models, including the 320is, 325es, 325is, 535is, and most recently, the X5 4.6is and 4.8is.

This 335is features a massaged version of the N54 turbocharged inline six and an array of M Sport accoutrements to put it on a tier above the current 335i.

In spite of the recent revelation of BMW's next-generation turbo six (the single-turbo N55), the 335is will employ the more familiar N54 twin-turbo. Precision fuel injection, Double-VANOS stepless valve timing, and an advanced Digital Motor Electronics (DME) control system collaborate to push peak power from 300 to 320 hp, and torque from 300 to 330 lb-ft. There's also an overboost function that briefly kicks the peak torque to a massive 370 lb-ft under hard acceleration in "certain circumstances."

Other engine upgrades are placed to compensate for the increased performance, like an additional radiator behind the left side bumper intake, an oil cooler behind the other intake, and stiffer engine mounts.

The 335is comes with a standard six-speed manual transmission, or, for the first time on a non-M car, the seven-speed DCT automated manual (which includes a launch control function) as an option.

While all 3 Series coupes and convertibles have received a midlife facelift for the coming model year-including massaged body panels and front and rear light clusters-M Sport styling cues vistually set the 335is apart from its more pedestrian siblings, including a front fascia and side skirts designed to move more air to critical locations, a rear fascia with diffuser, standard Shadowline window trim, gloss-black side mirrors, 335is badges on the front quarters, and standard 18-inch wheels (19s are optional). On the inside, the M Sport upgrades include the steering wheel, sport seats, an anthracite-colored headliner, stainless steel pedals, 335is branding on the dashboard and tachometer, and M-branded sill plates, dead pedal, and gearshift knob.

Built specifically for the club-racer enthusiast who isn't afraid to take his street car to the track, this should be regarded as the most dynamically capable 3 Series this side of an M3. You might even call it an M3 Lite. Putting the 5 Series around the bends at the Estoril circuit was fun; throwing this 3 Series around them was a total blast. Steering precision and road-holding abilities are what you'd expect from the already-sporty 335i; the is packages makes it that much sharper. And the torque delivery, at least on a wet track, could be described as superfluous-you know, if such a concept exists in the car-guy mind. Don't read that as a complaint. On the smooth, rain-slick tarmac at Estoril, the DTC light in the instrument cluster might have been on a strobe. Pure entertainment for sure.

The 335is will be offered in coupe and convertible form. The former will start at $50,525 including destination. The folding hard top version will set you back $59,075

2011 BMW 335is

Layout
Longitudinal front engine, rear-wheel drive

Engine
3.0-liter I6, dohc, 24-valve, turbocharged

Transmission
Six-speed manual; optional seven-speed DCT automated manual

MSRP: $50,525

Performance
Peak Power: 320 hp @ 5900 rpm
Peak Torque: 332 lb-ft @ 1500 rpm
0-62 mph: 5.0 sec. (DCT)
Top Speed: 155 mph (limited)

where are future cars?

Okay, cars are getting a lot smarter, as just observed by my colleague Larry Dignan, but why aren’t they capable of flying yet? Where are the flying cars? Where are the jetpacks?

Maybe it’s time to get over that 1960s-Jetsons-era vision and move on to more realistic, sustainable goals. Then again, maybe flying cars will still be part of a future in some form.

World Future Society spokesman Patrick Tucker tells CBS correspondent Tracy Smith why the future is “okay” without flying cars. Flying cars — long the idealistic vision of futurists past and present — may always be too impractical. And considering the way some people drive, it would be better if they weren’t whizzing around 1,000 feet in the air. “The regulatory and bureaucratic obstacles to a flying car system in a developed country like the United States are probably insurmountable,” Tucker says.
Don’t tell the folks at Terrafugia, Inc. about Tucker’s poo-pooing of flying cars. Terrafugia said last year that it successfully completed the flight testing program designed for its Transition Roadable Aircraft Proof of Concept. (Check out the video.)

Terrafugia calls its prototype The Flying Car, which completed its historic first flight on March 5, 2009 with 27 additional flights completed over the next several weeks. First delivery of a production model is expected in 2011, the company says.

Then there are interesting innovations happening with hovercraft, which may turn into the first manifestations of mass-produced “flying cars” (even if they do only go a foot above the ground). Just the other day, in fact, President Obama convinced New York Times reporter Sheryl Stolberg to demo a small hovercraft at Industrial Support Inc., a manufacturing services company in Buffalo, N.Y.

Most predictions about the future do tend to miss the mark, but many things are coming to pass as well. Picture phones, for example, were always something that were somewhere off in the future, but are now an everyday reality, thanks to cellphone advances and Webcams. Flat-screen TVs, long anticipated, also are a daily reality. Another interesting twist, Tucker says — we may be viewing television within our heads.

We do have a space station, a la 2001: A Space Odyssey, albeit much more cramped and sparsely occupied than the grand orbiting hotel envisioned in the movie.

It seems the one area that most futurists of the past got it wrong was computing. Most views of future are a vision of huge, often menacing, Hal-like centralized supercomputers keeping all things connected. (Think 2001, and Colossus: The Forbin Project). I don’t think anybody foresaw saw the loose — and highly democratic — confederation of systems of all sizes that make up our emerging world of social networking and cloud services.