Miscellany: 2013 BMW 328i review - Drei-er Lint

The sixth generation BMW 3-series has met with mixed reviews. It's still the "default" entry-level compact luxury sedan, but the current F30 chassis just isn't as sharp as previous models, and the competition is better than ever. Has the mighty 3-series fallen to second-best? Here are my impressions after 3,000 miles:

Pros

Engine - Ironically, the big change that people were worried about back in 2011 - moving from a naturally-aspirated six-cylinder to a turbo four - turned out to be one of the car's biggest strengths. The N20 is an excellent engine, making (at least) 240 hp and 255 lb-ft of torque, but returning an honest 27ish miles per gallon in mixed city/highway driving. On long road trips, I got 30+ mpg, while still having enough pull at 80 mph to pass anything on the highway.

Transmission - This 328i has an eight-speed automatic (the 6-speed manual is a no-cost option, I think). Shifts are quick and smooth, and you can adjust the shift points by putting the car in one of three modes - "Comfort," "Sport," or "EcoPro." The modes make a big difference in the driving experience: EcoPro yields a dull throttleless journey, while Sport mode lets you sacrifice plenty of premium gas in the name of higher revs.

Interior - Though not as plush as say, a C300, the cabin is still pretty comfy. The materials are partly determined by your trim level, but even without any added options, there are soft-touch plastics and leather worked in throughout. And while the latest generation is almost as big as a 5-series from yesteryear, that also means there's room for four American-size adults (five if people are willing to skoosh each other).

Cons

Steering - BMW went to electric steering in the F30, and the reception has been almost universally negative. The steering is precise, sure, but it's also strangely light and dead-feeling. It works fine for the daily commute, but people who took the old 3-series on backroads to play will be disappointed.

Suspension - The default suspension is soft - more like an Acura or a Lexus than a traditional BMW. Again, great for riding over bumps on the highway (my rear passengers had no trouble sleeping on a 2-hour trip to the Everglades), but bad for performance.

Value - For a car that probably cost 35 grand to the original owner, it's missing a lot of basic stuff people take for granted, like a backup camera and a spare tire.

Conclusion

Your opinion of the current 3-series probably depends on how you are using it. If you want something that will handle 50-odd miles of commuting every day, hauling kids and groceries, and still being nice enough to take a client around in, this is a fine, fast car. But clearly something has been lost in the handling department that'll take another round of Bavarian engineering to fix.

Guns: Scaremongering

Really, Brownells? I understand trying to move rifle mags, but this seems a little on the nose. I like Natchez's response a lot better:

Books: Chains of Command

I've been following Marko Kloos's "Frontlines" series since its inception, and it's really turning into an excellent military sci-fi saga. In the latest installment, "Chains of Command," the reader finds that protagonist Andrew Grayson has become one of the most experienced combat troopers around, mainly because of an alien invasion of Mars that shattered Earth's military. As such, he's being recruited for a seemingly impossible mission, but one that could swing the balance in the coming war with the aliens.

The first half of "Chains of Command" is a bit slow, a purposeful deep breath after the carnage at the end of the last book, "Angles of Attack." And the series is definitely starting to suffer from the core problem endemic to a long-running first-person military fiction series - namely, that the narrator never gets killed, no matter how dangerous the situations he finds himself in. Still, if you're in this deep, you know you're going to read this, and Kloos does not disappoint.

Miscellany: Big Tree Park

Big Tree Park is an interesting little spot in Seminole County, Florida. It was once the home of "The Senator," a 3,500 year old bald cypress tree that had been a landmark and tourist attraction since the 1800s.

I say "once was" and "had been" because The Senator was destroyed by arson in 2012 (giant historic trees are, weirdly enough, common targets for crime). The remains of the great tree are encircled by a black fence, a mute reminder of man's capacity for senseless destruction.

Not all was lost, though. A smaller and younger companion tree, "Lady Liberty," still stands in the park. If you catch it just right in the fading light, you really do get a sense that the tree is timeless, and that there are some living things that are (thankfully) beyond our ken.

Guns: 300 yards

I rarely get the chance to shoot at any distance longer than 100 yards, so for me, the 300-yard day at the PBSO rifle range is a special treat. The targets are tiny at the firing line, though:

Along for the ride was Son of Frankencarbine! and my Ruger Gunsite Scout. The AR was wearing a Trijicon AccuPoint TR24R 1-4x in a LaRue QD LT 104-30 mount, while the Scout had Leupold's fixed-power intermediate eye relief scope, the FX-II.

Of course, these are not the ideal scopes for shooting tiny groups prone, but I am not a good enough shooter to suss out the difference. And anyway, I was having too much fun tossing out a full magazine's worth of PMC Bronze .223 and X-TAC 5.56 from the BCM:

The Gunsite Scout was a bit tougher to handle. At the FX-II's 2.5x magnification level, I really hand to concentrate on the reticle to make sure it was centered over the tiny blue dot in the scope:

Eventually, I started dropping rounds into the black, with the help of a Galco Safari Ching Sling (a must-have accessory for a scout rifle) and 168 grain Federal Gold Medal Match. I had to hold over about 12 inches using this combo, though.

Food: A day of dining in Austin

A couple of my cousins attend UT's McCombs School of Business, so we've made a few trips to Austin over the years. Of course, the city is widely known for being one of the food capitals of Texas, but the sheer number of choices for eating out can be overwhelming. If you're interested, here's a recap of some of the places we've been...

Breakfast - Blue Dahlia Bistro (2/4 stars)

Austin can be fairly sleepy in the morning, and we found that the shady back patio of the Blue Dahlia Bistro was a relaxing place to pass the time:

The Blue Dahlia is a European-style cafe that serves breakfast all day, including pretty good crêpes and blintzes:

I had the meat board, which was loaded up with meats, cheeses, nuts, and cornichons. It was good, but pricey.

Lunch - Hopdoddy Burger Bar (3/4 stars)

One of our favorite places in Austin was Hopdoddy, a small chain of burger joints that has a perennially crowded location on South Congress. It's sort of like Five Guys on steroids - Hopdoddy offers a full selection of craft beers, custom milkshakes, and some of the best burgers I've ever had in a restaurant.

The experience is casual and loud, though, with counter service only and people milling everywhere. This is not the place to take someone on a first date.

Dinner - Iron Works Barbecue (2/4 stars)

Austin is renowned for its barbecue, but most of the boutique places (Franklin Barbecue, etc.) sell out of their stock early. If you're craving some 'cue for dinner, what's left are chains like Rudy's and big establishments like the Iron Works Barbecue, near the heart of the city:

The beef brisket and ribs are the highlights here, and they seemed tasty, if a bit dry (it's probably the North Florida boy in me, but I feel like good old pork ribs are the best for barbecue). Still, the portions are mammoth, and how bad can a place be if Keanu Reeves endorsed it? Party on dudes...

Dessert and Coffee

Mozart's Coffee Roasters (2/4 stars) - A large coffeehouse located on the shore of Lake Austin, with lots of indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the lake. You'll see plenty of college kids studying here on weeknights thanks to the bottomless coffee cups.  In truth, the coffee and cheesecakes here are just okay; the place gets by on its (admittedly excellent) location.

Lick Honest Ice Creams (3/4 stars) - I am a sucker for independent ice cream shops, and this local chain is about as fancy as you can get - the ingredients are invariably locally sourced, sustainably raised, GMO-free, organic, etc., etc. That would all be for naught if the ice cream wasn't good, but Lick does things right. My "Too Hot Chocolate" was served in a homemade waffle cone, and it was about as good a Mayan-style chocolate ice cream as I've ever had.

Two Hands Coffee (2/4 stars) - Parts of Austin are polished to a yuppie sheen, like "The Domain" - essentially a big outdoor mall that's Austin's version of CityPlace. Two Hands is a cafe inside this mall, and it's actually pretty good - the various lattes and cappuccinos we ordered all came out fine. It turns out you don't need indie cred to make a great cup of coffee.