BMW Driving Experience - The Best Way To Enter A Year - Going In Sideways!

Ah yes! It is the year-end holiday season! But you know… holidays usually revolve around the same old stuff. But what if… somewhere along that trip, you could just go off-course, to do something so left of field, where you can have full bragging rights during one of your work lunches? But of-course, the real draw is in the experience isn’t it? It has got absolutely nothing to do with bragging...

OneShift Editorial Team

05 Dec 2019

Ah yes! It is the year-end holiday season! But you know… holidays usually revolve around the same old stuff.

Head to a big city.
Look at buildings.
Eat something you might frown at.
Look at nature.
Point at stuff.
Buy stuff to bring home.
Buy stuff made in China for your colleagues…

And so the checklist goes…

But what if… somewhere along that trip, you could just go off-course, to do something so left of field, where you can have full bragging rights during one of your work lunches? But of-course, the real draw is in the experience isn’t it? It has got absolutely nothing to do with bragging...

While there is nothing monotonous about having a good holiday, we feel that you could take things up a few levels.

How about spending a day learning how to drift a car properly? And we are not talking about just lugging your handbrake.

So we were in Munich recently, and headed over to the BMW and MINI Driving Academy in Maisach, for the opportunity to learn the fine art of how to put a car sideways, and to keep it that way.

A quick briefing from our instructor later, we were on the tarmac of what was once an airbase. Our drift machine for the day was the BMW M4 Competition, a RWD track monster, well suited for the day that lay ahead.

A warming-up session, to get us in-tune with the correct hand placement while steering the car was a must-do before the actual drift training began. This is where we learn to use the opposing hand to push the steering wheel into the direction of our turn, rather than pull on the wheel. This helps to keep you squarely positioned in your seat.

And So The Fun Begins!

We were provided two circular courses to get around, taking each turn in opposite flick of the wheel. This is where we learned when to gas it while in a turn to break traction, to feel for when the rear would come around, when to lift off the gas, and then go on to balance the throttle… the last bit, being the most tricky of them all.

Even after clocking a decent amount of track time in the past, learning to drift a car smoothly, is a higher skill set, which requires you to be even more sensitive to throttle inputs.

1. I had a rather stubborn right foot, that refused to lift off enough from the throttle.
2. I had a rather stubborn right foot, that then refused to throttle enough after refusing to lift off enough.
3. I then developed a stubborn right foot that gassed the throttle too hard when in opposite steer.
4. Drifting is harder than you think!
5. I didn’t feel so good!

I found out a few things during the afternoon session, with loads of spinning out…

But with patience from our instructor, and above the flurry of all the action, and with his instructions crackling through the radio, I could slowly see that things were coming together, and slowly, I found myself catching the rear, and putting power down to the wheels at the right moment.

Learning to put the car sideways, also teaches you how to understand the concept of weight transference, and also how to correct your car.

But learning to drift on tarmac is just one of the many different experiences offered by BMW.

They also conduct programmes on ice, and even experiences on a race track.

So how about planning your next trip a little different, with holidays around where you can get yourself behind the wheel for a BMW Driving Experience!