Earlier this week I had the opportunity (again) to attend the BMW Ultimate Driving Experience (yep, I occasionally do something other than read and edit, lol). My hubby loves these cars, and is always researching them and pointing out what has changed in their body style. I, of course, drive him nuts when he talks about the cars we're seeing on the freeways by responding to his specific identification (make and model, and often, year) by asking what color car he's talking about, lol.
BMW (and other car companies) schedules a block of time (maybe a week?) every year or so, to allow enthusiasts to come out and ride in several models of cars.
They set up a small track with lots of curves and small groups of drivers ride with a professional driver, who gives tips on what to focus on (their big mantra is to look where you want the car to go, some distance ahead) then allows each person to drive the course, while being tutored on when to brake, when to accelerate, which side of the course to aim for (while NOT running over the cones, lol), and once everyone in the entire cohort has a chance to do this...each person has the opportunity to try to get the best time with only the professional in the car. I, of course, fail to accelerate quickly enough, so I inevitably have the slowest time...but I DON'T run over the cones, lol.
This year, we were driving the new 3-series cars, and even better, they were BLUE!
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There are other events, including the opportunity to test drive a myriad of cars on the street without having to deal with an aggressive salesperson and a day-long clinic on driving the M cars. I liked the couple of convertibles we tried out but we both agreed that it would take a bit of adjustment to get used to driving the electric car because it tends to stop the minute you take your foot off of the accelerator (we figured it really saves on brakes, lol).
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We've had the opportunity to do things like this with several makes and models of cars and it's a lot of fun, so if you ever have the time and access, I highly recommend it! Ask your local dealers if they have this kind of event and how to get on the notification list. They help sponsor it and are happy to have a contact, so they can be very helpful.
Sounds like it was an interesting experience.
ReplyDeleteIt's a blast. I embarrassed myself totally on the racetrack one year because I neglected to realize I had the car in the gear where I was supposed to use the paddles to shift. Such a wasted opportunity to speed along!
Deletein vegas one year, we got to enjoy the nascar experinece by racing around the track. that was very cool
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental
Ooh, I bet that was fun, sherry!
DeleteThis sounds way fun! Have to see there's something like this in our neck of the woods.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get a chance to participate, stanalei, I always enjoy it, especially if we sign up early enough to get early morning rather than the scorching afternoon session!
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