RITKASÁGOK - BMW Alpina B3 vs. Mercedes-Benz AMG A45 (Laptiming Ep. 248.)

RITKASÁGOK - BMW Alpina B3 vs. Mercedes-Benz AMG A45 (Laptiming Ep. 248.)

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Hi, welcome back! As I've alredy told you, two German titans are going to fight, although the two cars doesn't have much in common. János, I'm turning to you. It seems to be a BMW, but if we look at the car carefully, we see that it's not exactly the case.

During the last episode, while testing the M850i, Csabi mentioned the brand Alpina which produces comfortable, yet very dynamic journey cars. Now, a real Alpina model is standing next to us. It's a real rarity, I think that most people can't appreciate this car. Yes, exactly, what's more, most people don't even know about Alpina, they've never heard it before. The chassis is a BMW, but Alpina rebuilds their cars from scratch. Every part is different, it's more sporty and elegant than average BMW models. It's not as extreme

as an M3, but these are real sport cars. They keep their value high, the price of these cars isn't decreasing. BMW've just bought Alpina, so from 2025, Alpina is going to change.

Still, it's a very precious car, buitl onto a BMW E46 Combi. The name of the car is Alpina B3 Touring, only 400 exemplars were built. It has a 3.3 liter engine, with 280 HP. Despite the additional power, it consumes less than a normal BMW.

The software controlling the engine and the drivetrain are both replaced. I've already sat in some Alpina models, it's always a special occasion. Csabi knows Herr Bovensiepen personally. Yes, the brand Alpina is owned by the Bovensiepen family.

I was lucky enough to have a chance to race in their factory team in 2009. As I've signed the contract, we went to a little town near Munich where the Alpina centre is located. Interestingly, the majority of their income comes from wines, not from cars.

Of course, nowadays, they are mostly known for their cars. Sadly, they can't compete with recent electric trends, they don't have experience with electric drivetrain. That's why they decided to sell the brand to BMW, this way, they might have more engineering background to produce electric cars, too. I love these cars, they are specialities.

As Jani've just said, this is not a tuning company, it's company manufacturing their own cars based on BMW models, this is an important difference! Their cars are planned very carefully, attention is payed to every detail, harmony and balance are key features. Depending on the exact model, they only use the charosserie of BMWs, and some other minor parts. They don't only increase turbo pressue by tuning the engines, but they modify the whole geometry of the engines. Recent B3 uses the engine block of the M3, but it has different cylinders, turbos, and control.

That's how these cars get their special character and appeal. To sum it up, it's a rare and unique car. they have both petrol and diesel models. I'm glad to see it here.

Let's see who begins! I liked your introduction. I begin! -Warm it up! The car is in stock condition, it also has a locking differential. The shock absorbers are replaced with new ones.

It has covered 363.000 kilometers so far, and it's in perfect condition! Alpina engines are amazing! Wow, what a slip! It's not loud. It doesn't seem to have much traction.

An Alpina S3 was available, too, which was stronger than the B3. Nowadays, they also produce diesel cars. The tires reached their optimal temperature. First lap time: 51.042 seconds. Full time: 1.35.952 seconds.

The X5 45e has been beaten by 0.1 seconds, the 323 E36 Coupe by 0.05 seconds. The 130i was slower by 1.5 seconds. Well, he drifted too much, it's not an optimal result. It has beaten the Golf 7 GTE, too.

This is the 62th B3 Touring. Jani told me that it has covered 363.000 kilometers, compared to this range, it's in amazing condition! Your laps were quite spectacular, but during the first lap, you were drifting quite much. Yes, I love this car! It's so precise and harmonic! Incredible! The transmission works perfectly, the whole balance is mad! Despite being a sport car, it's smooth and comfortable. How was it to drift around with a sleeper combi? The tires don't have much traction, still, it's a wonderful model! This is an Alpina.

I might buy it if it's on sale You'll like it! It's in wonderful condition! The result is 51.0 seconds. It could have been faster, I was playing a bit too much. Interestingly, it has the same result as the Golf GTE. The behavior of this car is amazing! I don't know how much money was spent on the maintenance, but it's simply a wonder! The 6 cylinder engine is very smooth, the power is increasing linearly. It's a precision instrument.

It's quite quiet, it doesn't really have sound from outside. Inside, it's rather comfortable and elegant than sporty. If I imagine a great car, this is what I think of. Wonderful turn! You had 110 km/h there, too. He is sliding, too.

He is trying to be cautious, to save some time in the corners. First lap time: 49.993 seconds. Full result: 1.35.210 seconds. You won in the second lap, but your first lap was slower by 0.7 seconds.

While his first lap was very fast, his second was rather poor. It has almost beaten an M240i M Performance. The E39 M5 is only faster by 0.1 seconds. From the modern world, the i4 40 was only faster by 0.2 seconds.

Your laps were wholly different than Csabi's. I was trying to keep calm. The final result is 49.9 seconds, which moved the car up on the list significantly.

It has the same result as the M240i M Performance and the i4 40. The M5 E39 was only faster by 0.1 seconds. We often say that sport cars are under 50 seconds, so according to this definition, it's a sport car. -Yeah, it's like a piece of art!

You can drive on the limits really easily, but if you start drifting, it keeps being stable and predictable, too. You didn't make a mad drift, but a precise, well-planned sliding. After 363.000 kilometers, the precise steering is also a wonder! Congratulations to Alpina, let's continue with a Mercedes! We are back! We are switching to a Mercedes, it's an A45 model, not S, but AMG. It's one of my favorite Mercedes design.

The car has a very funny story, I'm telling it to you. It's owned by one of our friends, and as we phoned him to take it here, he replied that he's just sold it. But he asked the new owner to take it here, and it turned out that the new owner is also a Laptiming fan, so both the new and the old owners are here. They are both smiling, János, what do we know about it? It's not an S model, it only has 380 HP.

It has 4WD, too. I don't think that the lower power is a drawback, it has great tires, that's much more important. The car has already been at Kakucs, but we haven't driven it. The owner told us that 4 laps are required for the tires to reach the optimal temperature. Csabi, what do you expect? These 4WD hot hatches are perfect for Kakucs. The new owner saw it on a video while the car was rolling at Kakucs.

We've already driven the A45S AMG here, which was very similar. With some luck, we might be able to perfrom similarly fast. Is it in stock condition? Only the fancy rims are custom, every other part is original. I'm curious about the difference between the A45 and the A45S beside power. This is the 30th Mercedes, and the A45S AMG with it's 47.056 seconds

is the 3rd Mercedes! Only the GT-C and the S63 AMG Coupe are faster. So it really fits this track. 47.0 seconds would be amazing!

Warm it up well! Jani should start. This is the most sporty Mercedes beside the top sport cars. The M850i Cabrio was only faster by 0.002 seconds than the A45S. Well, due to the size.

Both beat the Ferrari 458... The 488 GTB was only faster by 0.2 seconds. Both owner are nodding, I suppose that they know the whole list. Although AMG models are usually not filled with superfluous extra parts, this model has many funny details, like the rear wings. A45 is for the youth, they like such extras.

Compared to a laid-back C43, which is a real sleeper, this is much more showing off. It makes the car really cool. Behind the fancy wings, real technic is waiting to be used. Launch control is getting more and more wide-spread. It's really popular nowadays. I don't think that many people use it, doing it manually is much more fun! Wow, 120 km/h! Impressive! It's not too loud, but still very sporty.

I'm curious! First lap time: 48.246 seconds. Full time: 1.31.255 seconds. It's by 1 second slower than the A45S. Still, it's the 12th Mercedes. Only 63 models and the C43 are faster.

The asphalt temperature is 33°C. It was by 1.2 seconds slower than the A45S. Only 63 and 53 models have beaten it, and the C43 AMG. You might not have been aggressive enough, but both of your laps were clean.

More aggressivity made the front slip, it was difficult to turn it in. The rear tires aren't warm enough. From inside, it was fun, but I didn't feel the traction. It has beaten the Corvette C7 and the Audi S7, M135i, GT43 Coupe AMG. The Leon Cupra 300 ST has been beaten, too. 48.2 seconds, that's great.

Yeah, it's okay, but it could be better. Traction was not enough. It was sliding too much with the front.

He is in manual mode. He is struggling, he passed the photocell at 111 km/h. I can hear the RPM decreasing. First lap time: 49.363 seconds.

Full time: 1.33.234 seconds. He was beaten on both laps. You were beaten by 1 second on both laps. You often lost RPM, what was wrong? I was driving in manual mode, but it wasn't a great idea.

It's not playful enough, it was pushing the front too much. It was very ergonomic and comfortable. I was trying to shift manually but it slowed me down. It's strong enough, but one needs the right RPM for dynamism, and I missed some back-movements, too. We won't cry about the 48 seconds result, and let's not forget the great result of the Alpina! Next week, we'll have an Arteon, I almost bought one once.

It was too expensive. See you next week, follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube, bye!

2022-11-29 17:25

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