General Advice for First Time 5BW Owners

[jimijuma]

Hello all,

First I would like to say that this forum has been invaluable to me. I really appreciate all the knowledge I have gained and many of you have been quite helpful on my mission to acquire a 5BW.

After almost 2 years in the goat rodeo, I am about to take delivery of a '25 5BW (manual). My car is sitting there waiting to be shipped to the dealer. I am super excited, but am also a bit intimidated to be honest. Like many on these forums this will not only be my very first Blackwing, but it will also be my first car of this magnitude. I have next to no experience regularly driving a car with this kind of horsepower and a car at this price point. What general advice do you veterans have for a newbie like me who is about to own one of these? I know I am not the only one and I am sure responses will be helpful for many. I am looking forward to your guys' comments and suggestions. As always, much appreciated!

 

[BW56M]

Use the go pedal judiciously!

 

[Mike Martz]

Get out to Spring Mountain and then track the thing. The track is the only place where you can really appreciate and enjoy what this car is capable of doing. Plenty of HPDE's around the country and SCCA Track Nights; both are great at accommodating beginners.

 

[Ty88]

If you plan to keep the car well past the warranty period I suggest doing a first oil change, trans and differential fluid change at 1,500 miles which is the end of the break in period.

 

[T.O.Blackwing]

Don’t be intimidated.
It has gobs and gobs of torque so that if you want you can cruise around at low rpm with plenty of power available but easy to control.
You’ll need to keep the revs low anyway during break-in, and you’ll find it’s not scary at all when you drive it that way.
It is a luxury sports sedan after all, and at the end of the day it’s equally capable in either “luxury” or “sports” mode.
Forget everything I just wrote if you run it to redline but, as noted, you shouldn’t be doing that when you first get it anyway.

 

[T.O.Blackwing]

If you plan to keep the car well past the warranty period I suggest doing a first oil change, trans and differential fluid change at 1,500 miles which is the end of the break in period.

Arguably not necessary/overkill but I promise not to argue about it!

 

[1Evil55]

Light the fires and smoke some tires.

 

[ngoni]

• If you're worried about all the power be sure to leave the traction and stability controls on. They will help keep you out of trouble until you're ready to get into some
• Absolutely get on the list for Spring Mountain. The training there is amazing and everyone praises it.
• Make sure the dealership has removed the plastic shipping braces in the suspension. Many dealerships forget to take them out.
• Follow the break-in procedures in the manual.
• Since you have a 5BW, you might want to keep a can of gas in the trunk since you'll be getting about 8 MPG when you're really having fun.

 

[hawk02]

Congrats on the new ride. As others have said, follow the manufacturer’s break in. Not only will this break in the engine and diff it will also help you get use to the car and what it is capable of doing.

It’s a damn fast car for its size so keep it under 4000 rpm until you reached the end of break in or start to feel comfortable in the car. It’s a blast to drive!

 

[TheShark]

Roll on the throttle (not stab) and increase application speed and pressure as you get more comfortable and learn the car. And don't go to a party/BBQ, have 1 or 2 and go for joy ride to show your buddy your new loud and fast car. You can't hot dog it, "let me show you what she'll do!".... crash. Smooth inputs only.

 

[KnightI2]

A singer once said; "Don't worry be happy!"
Just ENJOY the ride friend.

 

[jbawden]

I think the OP has built this up a bit, this isn't an analog single turbo 930 from the '70's. The car is extremely capable of cutting a fast lap in the right hands, it's also extremely capable of being a docile daily and family hauler. You can definitely get into trouble, but don't be a knucklehead.

I'll add to @TheShark BBQ advice and recommend being super disciplined with ANY rides where the premise is the proverbial "let's see what she can do", you have nothing to prove to anyone. And for the love of all things holy, no Cars and Coffee for the first year! We all imagine having stunt driver car control; 99% of us don't.

 

[JLayer]

Get out to Spring Mountain and then track the thing. The track is the only place where you can really appreciate and enjoy what this car is capable of doing. Plenty of HPDE's around the country and SCCA Track Nights; both are great at accommodating beginners.

This x1000

 

[BimmerFan]

Congrats and enjoy the car!

 

[CBH]

Congratulations !!

Spring Mountain is an absolute must. Everyone has had a fantastic experience, and you not only learn about high performance driving, you learn tons about all the car's settings/functions.

They showed me how you have to hold the traction control button down for a full 8 seconds to fully disable it. Sure wish I'd know that before trying to do some donuts in an empty stadium parking..............it was ugly !!

But don't be afraid. Its very docile. Then after break-in, you can floor it in 3rd gear as you enter the freeway.............