protege1949

Tested a 2002 ES with the automatic/sequential shift transmission option. What a joy to drive that sequential! Thought I was in CART tearing around suburban Atlanta. Got to curb the habit of reaching for the clutch with my left foot....only brake, there. Try one on for size if you get the chance!!!

kcbhiw

Far from a sequntial. 'tis just an automatic that you tell to shift.

kc5zom

Yeah go try an MR2 or M3 on for size. See how you like that.

Tony Soprano

BMW M3 SMG...

i love my sequential sport shift on my rsx and im glad its available for the 03 protege5...sunburst yellow as soon as i sell it...know anyone who wants an rsx?

kc5zom

Its bad form to call a manumatic a sequential anything. Anyway the CART specs call for a traditional manual but it works a little bit differently than the one in your car. Formula 1 (best racing on Earth) uses the SMG transmissions (and every other electronic gadget available).

Traveler

I've driven a new BMW M3 with the SMG2 tranny. It's a total kick! Plus, if you disable the stability control, it allows you to enter a 5th level of shifting firmness/speed. It also allows for wheelspin.

Installshield

Traveler where did you drive the SMG2? Is that the standard SMG in North America now? I drove one but I thought it was just the M3 SMG. My dad owns a M3 6 speed, and I went with him to test drive the SMG. He bought the damn M3 after I moved out, which sucks because I only drive it once or twice a year. Honestly I prefer the 6speed. The shifter on the M3 is so incredible I could not live with not having it. The SMG is great for the first couple bursts around, but when you are throwing a car around, I like to think it is the driver matching the revs and finding the proper gates rather then a computer.

kc5zom

I've driven the MR2 with the SMG. Its a blast although the buttons are on the damn steering wheel. I think Toyota must have some pretty retarted design people. The M3 I have only driven in non-SMG form. Its kind of difficult for people my age to even get dealers to let you drive an M3. I ended up taking my dad with me and pretending we were all affluent and crap. But they didn't even have one in stock to play around with so I got to drive a 6-speed. What a blast. 330 horsepower in a car about the same size as ours. Hard to keep the tires from spinning. Nothing like it. I'm betting the SMG on the M3 is twenty times better (at least) than the one on that Toyota.

Installshield

I read somewhere that the SMG was the fastest shifting street legal gearbox in the world. Until Ferrari released the new Enzo

Brian99ES

Better start reading, the 2003 BMW M3 w/SMG has exactly 6 manual shifting modes and 7 automatic modes. I guess you should have test driven the car a little further, or harder.

Sorry, Euro spec models come with 6/7 shifting modes. The article I had referred to was a test of a Euro spec model!!
Whoops!!!

By the way, real drivers shift for themselves.

kc5zom

I think they released both the SMG and SMG2 in the US.

Installshield

According to the website the SMGII is not even available yet, only the standard SMG. The M3 forum had a post of rumors about it, and said it may be available in NA late in the 2003 model year.

Are you sure it was a SMGII, Traveler?