[e36jakeo]

These videos make the exact point of why, in the REAL world (not an airstrip) the V2 Proceded 335i is so devastatingly quick. The torque allows the car to pull hard from any RPM at any speed. So In the lower gears (1-3) where the RPMs drop more after each shift the torque is there and waiting in the next gear to keep accelerating hard. The low-torque, high revving engines can use short gearing and torque multiplication to take advantage of this type of power, but at real world speeds it cannot make up for the torque advantage of the V2 I-6 TT.

Even on a racetrack where most cars spend the majority of their time in 3rd gear, with occational use of 2nd and 4th gear, the torque advantage of the 335i would still be a huge asset since, when exiting a corner the revs start somewhere in the midrange and rise toward the redline at the exit. The torque helps accelerate in the midrange and exit the corner faster.

Only in the 4th-6th gears, which are tightly spaced (esp 5th and 6th gear - only 13% separate them) do the revvers really take advantage of the gearing and revs advantage (you see this when the M6 races the E55 AMG. The M6 does not pull away until it is in 4th gear and the gearing and extra few HP help it to pull away).

The way to make the M3, M5 and M6 really take advantage of the revs would be to put in a shorter final drive ratio to help get the car into its higher (and more closely spaced gears) sooner and provide even more torque multiplication that they need.