Has anyone had an experience of E46ZHP and later CS? I find the CS steering to be not as telepathic as E46. While CS can carve the corners unliike anything, E46 required no input or correction at highway speeds. A mere 1/8" movement was sufficient for a lane change.

I assumed there was some free play with the CS so I took it to the dealer to get an alignment. I was told the car did not need it and the experience was rather normal. I hvae about 1200KM on the car.

What has been your experience and your perception?

Cheers.

Yes, I've had two zhps, one coupe and one sedan, for a total of two years & 20k+ miles. I switched directly to a cayman, overlapping for a month or two and have had it almost two years, 12k+ miles.

What you're noticing with the bmw is the quickness of the ratio, i.e. how many degrees of steering turn per degree of wheel angle. Same is true of the 135i, like the zhp, its steering is "quick". If you sneeze, you may end up in the next lane. This is not really steering response. I find the cayman steering to be near perfect, if there is a car with better steering I haven't driven it. Its inputs are different, it's tuned so well that it is not busy at all on the highway, yet you can rotate the car very easily. And the feedback is in another league.

Don't get me wrong, the zhp is a good, fun car. But saying its steering is better, is just like saying that a touchy throttle (e.g. of an audi) is actually fast. It isn't, it's just a "map", you can give the right inputs. Just get used to the car.

Good observations above, I agree, I have driven both and find that I prefer the Porsche... it feels more like I'm driving and I have even more depth of control, no danger of accidentally misjudging a turn-in for example.

I still own my '03 ZHP, and have driven a CS. I agree with equ. Also, when I replaced my ZHP's OEM Potenza RE040 tires with PS2's (CS tires) I lost a bit of the directness I had on the ZHP. The PS2's have rounder shoulders. I find the car is almost better now, since it muffles a bit of the sensitivity of the ZHP. The PS2's are far better tires. More comfortable yet as good if not better performance-wise.