Tag Archives: BMW

BMW M Track Days: Laying Down Rubber at Monticello Motor Club

Courtesy of The Drive: Since 2016, BMW has given general car enthusiasts and even more BMW M aficionados the chance to get behind the wheel of the newest BMW M vehicles at a track-day experience called BMW M Track Days. The high-performance event visits top-notch racing circuits around the country ranging from the FIA-approved Circuit of the Americas in Texas to the swanky Thermal Club in California.

As the owner of a BMW E92 M3 and all-around car enthusiast, I didn’t waste any time when I found out that BMW M Track Days was coming to the Monticello Motorclub. After reading the details of both eight- and four-hour programs, I registered for the $250 four-hour gig (eight-hour is $750) and prepared to have a heck of a time.

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MMC offers escape from the gridlock

“I want you to feel the car. Feel the gas, feel the brake,” my racetrack instructor Jason Rabe is saying. We’re driving along 4.1 miles of looping, winding asphalt at Monticello Motor Club, a members-only venue near the Catskills in New York that bills itself as “the world’s premier automotive playground.” The course has 22 turns and 450 feet of elevation change, designed with the help of a former pro racer so that it never gets boring. There’s a switchback and hairpin turns, corners inspired by grand European racetracks, and a kink in the road they like to call “kryptos.”

It’s my first time on a track: strapped in, helmeted and behind the wheel of a yellow-gold BMW M4. I stop checking the speedometer because I need to keep my eyes on the track. Later, on a straightaway, I push the car to 90 mph, but most of the time I probably wasn’t going more than 65. Still, it feels fast. The course that seemed intuitive a few minutes ago, when I was in the passenger seat, no longer makes any sense. Turns that I thought were on the right now appear, out of nowhere, on the left. The faster we go, around and around, the more disoriented I become. So I turn off the thinking part of my brain and focus all of my energy on doing what Rabe is telling me: Get your eyes way down to the right-hander here. Left side. That’s it, wait there. Now, bring it in. Hit your apex. Nice and tight to the curb. Left side. That’s it. Good job. Light brake. Now, turn it in.

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Please Excuse the 2017 BMW M2 For Smoking

Courtesy of Men’s Health: BMW would love for everyone to believe they’re building “The Ultimate Driving Machines.” Whether that’s true, of course, is a matter of opinion. Some agree that the German company is producing peak performance beasts. I’ve been taken by a few models—namely the new 7 Series, the M6 Gran Coupe and the 328d xDrive Sports Wagon—but largely been uninterested in the rest of BMW’s offerings. Recently, with tempered expectations, I accepted a 2017 M2 for a week-long review.

The BMW M2 is the most affordable M-badged Bimmer makes. It’s also the smallest. Approaching the M2 parked in my driveway, my interest was already piqued. The exterior design is spot-on with near-perfect proportions, especially when finished in Long Beach Blue Metallic. I admit an unhealthy attraction to small, wide-fendered cars, but everyone I showed it to loved the look, too. Except for the young lady who cuts my hair, who was not moved by the baby M-car’s pumped up flanks.

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