Driving shark infested-long and a little WOBby

[John Fountaine <jfount@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well, I said I would give my impressions of being shark infested, so here
goes...

In my non-scientific, impromptu, stop-watch in hand zero-60mph tests, I
have taken a shade over a full second off of my zero to 60 time.  My time
averages about 7.9 seconds which, in my opinion is respectable considering
how heavy the cars is.

The 3500-5000 rpm power range seems much stronger than before sharking.  I
believe the engine makes speed for passing faster than pre sharking.  One
thing I have noticed, however.  At full throttle, the rpm's seem to have a
flat spot.  Pre-shark, it developed at about 4100 rpm.  You could feel the
engine making good strong power, then at that rpm, it flattened out for
about 2 seconds or so, then rpms once again increased.  Post-sharking, this
same phenomenon develops at about 5100 rpm's.  Any ideas?  Could it be a
fuel delivery problem and therefore a dirty air filter?  Or maybe an air
flow problem which might be cured by a low restriction air filter?  Or an
ignition problem which may be cured by new plugs/wires?  There are no other
signs or symptoms of any problems, so I suspect it may just be a quirk
inherent to this engine.  Any and all comments are appreciated.

OK now on to the juicier stuff.  On Sunday, the family and I took a road
trip to my inlaws' place, which is located in the Sierra Foothills (for
those of you from nor cal).  I took a trip over to Folsom to have luch with
a family member, while my wife visited her family.  Anyway, on my way back
to pick up my wife, i was on a rural somewhat twisty road (latrobe) putting
the new chip and the new 225/50 z rated tires to the test, when I came up
behind a late-model Pontiac Fire-chicken.  Well needless to say, the fire
chicken's driver was not about to be outdone by a four door sedan, so he
made a run for it.  Not only was I able to keep up with him in every turn
(I do know this particular road very well) but I kept her in S3 mode and
could have easily passed him, if not for the turns in the road.  We kept
this up for about 5 miles, and I think he finally conceded, because he just
slowed and let me pass him in a straight-away.  For the record, I don't
make this kind of driving behavior a habit, but I have met more than one
masculinity challenged individual who seems to try to make up for and
appearant lack of testosterone by purchasing Z-28's or Fire-chickens.  But
usually I just see them doing burnouts from stoplights!

So bottom line here, am I happy?  You bet your bippy!!  Am I excited about
it?  I don't think that even needs and answer!

Thanks for the bandwidth.


John Fountaine
1995 525iA
(Sharked and loving it!)
(Brand new) BMWCA#159396
Golden Gate Chapter

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