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      01-26-2012, 09:31 AM   #1
jk
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pcd report

sent this email to my ca after pcd last week:

my son and i had a great time at the performance center. we started off with the skid pad - i went first, driving around the donut of wet-down polished concrete at about 20mph in a 335i sedan, with the dsc turned off. the instructor riding with me then said "FLOOR IT" and i did a full 720o double spin in spite of countersteering and braking. did it again, this time with a 540o spin. we then turned on the dsc and with proper steering was able to do about 45mph in control going around the pad, with the throttle floored but dsc withholding much of the power as well as applying individual brakes to control the skid. i came away wondering how i could ever let myself or a family member drive a vehicle without dsc.

we then did the emergency braking/crash avoidance exercise. running up to some set speed and then hitting full brakes while trying to turn through a laid-out lane of cones to avoid more cones set across our path. on my son's last run, he got up to about 60mph [instead of the 50-52 he was supposed to] and did an impressive job of braking at the cost of an exaggerated skid through the lane but then off into the grass.

then came the slalom course, hitting apexes which were marked with yellow cones, with outer turns marked with blue, and a slalom of red cones on a straightaway. i was passenger first and my son's vigorous circuits and, especially, being thrown back and forth as we went through the slalom section, was exciting but actually produced a bit of motion sickness [to which i'm prone]. my own circuits weren't bad, i think, but dialed back a little.

at no time, btw, did i feel there was any danger. the whole course is laid out so that the worst thing that can happen is a skid onto some grass or driving through some plastic cones.

after our own driving, we were offered a "hot lap" with our instructor driving a 500hp m5. we were in the parking area, just off the track. the instructor asked if we were ready and we said "sure." i assumed he would pull out and then pick up speed. instead, he immediately floored the accelerator and about 1/4 second later we were skidding our rear to the left, pointing the nose right and then shooting down the track. he drifted a lot around the slalom course, commenting that that wasn't the way to really go fast, but just to have fun, ran down to the other end of the course and onto the skid pad. he threw out the rear end, and proceeded to do a full run around the skidpad SIDEWAYS, then said "should i spin it?" we said "sure" and he did a 180o spin and shot out precisely at the off ramp from the skidpad.

although this did my motion sickness no good, it was an incredible experience.

after lunch we did the off-road exercise. first we drove about 40ft through water that was about 20" deep, then drove with the right tires up on a shoulder and the lefts in a ditch. we came [slowly] to some bumps, and were instructed to pause at a certain spot where all the weight of the vehicle was on the left rear and front right tires. the right rear barely touched the ground, and the left front was in the air. we were then told to drive forward 6 inches, at which point the right rear lifted off the ground and went up about 3ft, while the vehicle canted forward and to the left at a crazy angle and the left front touched down. the point here was to demonstrate that the xdrive really gives you 4 driven wheels. with one front axle wheel hanging in the air, and one rear axle wheel barely touching the ground, an ordinary 4 wheel drive [without limited slip differentials] would have just spun the free wheels and not moved. other parts of the course demonstrated the hill descent control, and the ability to drive the vehicle tilted sideways on a rocky hillside at angles i would never dare to attempt.

my vehicle was then "presented" to me, with a full run through of the various controls and settings. it happened that my presenter was our driving instructor, and as he went through everything i kept thinking about the contrast between his immense patience in that role, and his to-my-eyes wild performance behind the wheel. but both roles were characterized by a great sense of calm.

then we drove across the road from the performance center to the factory, for the factory tour. it was interesting and entertaining seeing the robots pirouetting to do spot welds and place components as they assembled parts of the bodies, and then watch the process of putting together and testing the vehicles. the guide frequently emphasized the quality controls and the high build qualities [e.g. spot welds per inch of seam], bringing home the message of what you were paying for when you bought a bmw.

in sum, it was great fun and a great marketing tool. i highly recommend it for any of your customers.
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      01-26-2012, 02:24 PM   #2
Bustofa
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Sounds like a fantastic experience. Thanks for posting.
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      03-04-2012, 10:25 AM   #3
FX3OK
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Sounds amazing, thanks for sharing!
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      03-04-2012, 10:38 AM   #4
Horsey
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Thanks for sharing the experience ...
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F25 X3 xDrive 35d M Sport Alpine White, Black Nevada Leather, Speed limit info, TV, Prof. Nav & Speakers, HUD, M Sport steering wheel, Sport gearbox, BMW Apps, Internet, VDC, Comfort with Powered boot, Hi-speed synch, VSS, Top View, Electric tow-bar, Heated steering, Storage, DAB, Heated electric seats, Moonroof, Adaptive High beam assist Xenons, Servotronic, Performance control, etc.
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