Got back from my trip yesterday and words cannot possibly express how much I love this machine!
We have video evidence of 172 and still going without any limiter. We hit 165 four times with ease before lifying for a bend or traffic and 163 in fifth.
The overall stats were 2946 miles, 20.9mpg, 42 hours driving time. Max oil temp was 124C.
Did just one lap on the ring due to a motor cyclist coming off and being run over by a car. We didn't see it and never heard if he made it. It's a very scary and dangerous place and to be honest, I prefered the Stelvio Pass.
There were 29 other cars on the trip and I was impressed with the sheer grunt of the "Mountain Goat" (as other drivers now call it).
One interesting thing was how much quicker the car has become. The exhaust note is much better now that it's been driven very hard for long distance. Even on start up it's much louder and on a trailing throttle it now cackles and pops like a Segaris.
Other notes... brake fade was virtually non-existant, even on 60 mile flat out twisty sections. Going dwn the Stelvio Pass was a bit hard on the brakes and they started to groan loudly at the very bottom of the run (46 hairpins downhill, many using 1st gear to red line out of the bend and then snatching 2nd before braking hard for the next). The adaptive lights were superb on these type of roads after dusk.
Conclusion....I am going to forget about swapping the RS4 for the new M3 and just sell the BMW on for a small premium in April!
