iamme
Lifer
It's a complimentary class where, I assume, we get to scoot around in 3-series Bimmers for a few hours 🙂
I'm sure it'll be a glorified sales pitch, but hey, it's free!
I'll take my camera and take some pics 😀
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UPDATE:
It was pretty fun 🙂 They set up the parking lot of the Pontiac Silverdome (where the Det. Pistons and Lions used to play) into 4 seperate tracks. They said the tracks were 18 second tracks, although the instructors did them in about 16.5 seconds 🙂. They had a little building where they gave us a short presentation on braking techniques and steering concepts.
Our cars were 330i's. I was a little dissappointed that the cars were autos, but I soon realized that had we driven manuals, it would have limited our time in the cars.
We then went out to the tracks to for some ABS braking demos. First, we floored our cars in a straight line and then broke when our instructors told us to, a the last possible second. I was determined to push the car as hard as I could and trust the ABS system. I was certain I would plow through the cones ahead of me, but when the instructor yelled "brake!", I slammed my foot on the brakes and stopped inches before the cones 🙂 After that, we did the same thing, but did it into a turn and tried to steer the cars through the turn.
After that the instructors took us around the track and explained how we would manuever through the course. They set up cones that signalled where we would hit the corners in the turns. We did a few practice laps and then we split up into two groups and ran a rally race. Just like a rally foot race, each person would run the course, one right after the other, and the time would be cumulative. Our team ended up winning 🙂
In the end, it was a damn cool experience. When do you get to push a Bimmer hard around a race track? It would have been more fun if we had more time on the track, but for a free class, who's complaining? 😀 The worst part was the drive home....it felt like I was driving SO slow 😛
Pics (all 1024x768, ~150-300K)
Here's a view of the track from the parking lot
Here's a shiny 5-series they had in the lobby
They had a little charity test drive setup. You test drive a BMW and they donate money for each mile you drive.
This was the little building they set up to house the registration and class
These were the charity test drive cars you could choose from
We were in the classroom anxiously waiting to begin 🙂
An instructor talking about some basics (and how great BMWs are 😛)
Going over some more basics
Out on the track, an instructor talks more about handling the course
First group ready to get going
Back from a braking exercise
Video (Right click, Save As)
Video taken with my Canon S400 digital camera, so audio/video quality isn't super.
5.5MB - Another group's rally race (lots of wind noise, sorry)
1.9MB - Straight line, ABS braking exercise
2.0MB - Taking a turn while slamming the brakes
I'm sure it'll be a glorified sales pitch, but hey, it's free!
I'll take my camera and take some pics 😀
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE:
It was pretty fun 🙂 They set up the parking lot of the Pontiac Silverdome (where the Det. Pistons and Lions used to play) into 4 seperate tracks. They said the tracks were 18 second tracks, although the instructors did them in about 16.5 seconds 🙂. They had a little building where they gave us a short presentation on braking techniques and steering concepts.
Our cars were 330i's. I was a little dissappointed that the cars were autos, but I soon realized that had we driven manuals, it would have limited our time in the cars.
We then went out to the tracks to for some ABS braking demos. First, we floored our cars in a straight line and then broke when our instructors told us to, a the last possible second. I was determined to push the car as hard as I could and trust the ABS system. I was certain I would plow through the cones ahead of me, but when the instructor yelled "brake!", I slammed my foot on the brakes and stopped inches before the cones 🙂 After that, we did the same thing, but did it into a turn and tried to steer the cars through the turn.
After that the instructors took us around the track and explained how we would manuever through the course. They set up cones that signalled where we would hit the corners in the turns. We did a few practice laps and then we split up into two groups and ran a rally race. Just like a rally foot race, each person would run the course, one right after the other, and the time would be cumulative. Our team ended up winning 🙂
In the end, it was a damn cool experience. When do you get to push a Bimmer hard around a race track? It would have been more fun if we had more time on the track, but for a free class, who's complaining? 😀 The worst part was the drive home....it felt like I was driving SO slow 😛
Pics (all 1024x768, ~150-300K)
Here's a view of the track from the parking lot
Here's a shiny 5-series they had in the lobby
They had a little charity test drive setup. You test drive a BMW and they donate money for each mile you drive.
This was the little building they set up to house the registration and class
These were the charity test drive cars you could choose from
We were in the classroom anxiously waiting to begin 🙂
An instructor talking about some basics (and how great BMWs are 😛)
Going over some more basics
Out on the track, an instructor talks more about handling the course
First group ready to get going
Back from a braking exercise
Video (Right click, Save As)
Video taken with my Canon S400 digital camera, so audio/video quality isn't super.
5.5MB - Another group's rally race (lots of wind noise, sorry)
1.9MB - Straight line, ABS braking exercise
2.0MB - Taking a turn while slamming the brakes
