We've hit the top three people. Only two more cars remain on our illustrious list of must drives from 2005. Of course, the full list can be found in theDec/Jan issue on stands now.
#3 BMW M5
The BMW M5, now in its fourth generation, has a
special place in history and in our loins. The M5 was the first
four-door exotic, the car that blurred the line between supercar
performance and family-car versatility. It is safe to say that
without the M5, the notion of a car like the Mitsubishi Evo
would seem preposterous. Okay, the Evo still seems
preposterous, but that's hardly the
point: The M5 was the iconoclast,
now the icon.
The car you see here hews closely to
the first M5's four-door sports-car
formula, only now there's more of
everything. It's funny to think that the
original 282-hp six-cylinder M5 had so
much impact when today it takes a
500-hp V-10 to get the job done. But
from its origin through its evolution, the M5 never valued outright
power over other,less measurable—but no less important—
attributes. Chassis development has kept pace with engine
development and the whole car has evolved organically.
The
current M5's engine, for example, is mated to a 7-speed sequential
manual transmission with Launch Control for balls-out
acceleration runs. The gearbox's shift speed can be selected
manually, as can damper settings and stability-control modes:
Even a powered-down 400 horsepower setting is available, for
when you hand the keys to the valet. Surely he couldn't get in
trouble with only 400 horsepower,right?
But all this technology doesn't get in the way of sheer, sweaty-palmed
driving nuttiness. As the M5's computational power has
risen, the car has only gained poise, quickness, and tireshredding
power. The M5 is a dancer and a smoker. This may
explain why it doesn't have a dancer's body.
