Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyline
It truly is an amazing vehicle; yet as we all know, flawed. Kind of a love/hate thing. When I was driving my X5 today on a twisty back country road, at WAY beyond the legal limit, I thought, do I really NEED an M car? This thing is darned fast and handles great already. Seven years with two different X5's and never been pulled over; apparently PO's just see it as a soccer Mom machine and let it go...little do they know how fast it is. Yeah I still need a 500hp car, but I'd probably just loose my license.
As for the 20" wheels, they make a noticeable difference; I use 19's for 4 months a year, (Blizzaks), and the 20"'s make a noticeable difference. Not so much for traction, as it's pretty hard to get the car to break loose on anything but snow or gravel. But high speed stability is greatly improved. Normally, unsprung weight is a bad thing, and the 20" wheels/tires weigh a ton, (especially the rears,) but it seems to be uniformly beneficial to the X5. Perhaps it's just the lower tire profile, but I think it's more than that.
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I'm right there with ya:
If I had a 500hp M type car, I'd probably be rapidly surrendering my license, but at least I'd get a ride to the police station!
I also have had a similar experience with the X5 and the speed limit. Mine's black, so it's just another black SUV in the sea of black SUVs; it's practically camouflaged. Plus the norm here is 80 in a 55, so it takes an excessively heavy foot to stand out from the crowd.
Good info on the 20's. I've never run anything but the 20's. With the Xdrive and the number of times I actually drive the thing in the snow here in Chicago, I really don't need snow wheels. I agree, it definitely does have high speed stability with the 20's.