Top Gear Causes M3 Tomfoolery!

[immiketoo]

So, it's been a long, cold winter and I have downloaded every Top Gear episode there is. I've watched them all and after watching all the drifting and powersliding, I decided to go out and try it myself. Mind you, I have snows on and my car is far less stable with them than the PS2s.

So, I went to my local industrial park and picked the biggest vacant parking lot without light poles to try and teach myself the Scandinavian flick, the clutch slide and the E-brake technique. I decided to start with the flick, and so I got up to about 30, weaved left and nailed it... and nothing happened. Oh, yeah forgot the traction control. With that remedied, I tried it again and I was spun around so fast, I didn't have time to blink. Holy crap does this car over power the skinny snows! After about half an hour I found I could drift reasonably smoothly for about 150 degrees before the motor ran out of revs or the tires hooked up and shook the hell out of me.

Next was the clutch pop method. It's a bit tricky but once I figured out the right rev range, it seemed to work ok, but I kept feeling like I was killing my clutch. I didn't smell the plates burning, which is a testament to the strength of this car's driveline, but it was hard to tell because of the tire smoke And, I hated every minute of it. Plus, I didn't feel the control was there compared to the flick.

Last, I tried the e-brake method and I spent about 20 minutes of moderate success, but there's a lot to do with a manual, steering and the automatic ratchet catch on the e-brake. I kept NOT releasing it all the way and that really kills the slide, not to mention the pads.

What I can say I learned is that all my time spent in Wisconsin as a kid drifting in the snow paid big dividends on pavement. With the exception of the sound and the smoke, it feels pretty much the same if you get the turn in/flick/clutch pop/e-brake maneuver right. There is a balance point between revs/angle/speed that feels sweet when you hit it and awful if you don't. I was surprised at how smooth getting it right felt! Looking out the side windows to go forward was interesting, and I found I'm better going right than left

So, all in all I had a blast, I learned a ton and I fried my snow tires. I had my I phone program Rev2 hooked up to see my lateral Gs. The graph showed 1.2 G a few times, but I don't know when during the slide(or stop) that was. I'm not too familiar with Rev2 yet, but if I came up with anything useful, I'll keep you posted.

Has anyone else tried this? What were your experiences, and how did you deal with the e-brake issue? I'd really like to be able to do this at will, in any corner, and be familiar enough with it so I can control the slide during track days.

All in all, great fun and I LOVE my car!

[BMW M Power Mexico]

I have tried this a couple of times on the E46 at the end of a couple of track days when it was raining. I have only tried the flick with power. Out of 10 tries, I get 2 "top-gear" worthy drifts, 6 "so so" minor drifts + recovery ad 2 total spin outs - out of control.

On the second day while doing one of the latter I hit the track curb at 90 degrees and bent a lower rear control arm (since fixed). There is a price to everything but it was worth it.

[dasano18]

I wish i had a nice big abandoned parking lot here in nyc so i can try and do stuff like this.

[immiketoo]

Originally Posted by BMW M Power Mexico

I have tried this a couple of times on the E46 at the end of a couple of track days when it was raining. I have only tried the flick with power. Out of 10 tries, I get 2 "top-gear" worthy drifts, 6 "so so" minor drifts + recovery ad 2 total spin outs - out of control.

On the second day while doing one of the latter I hit the track curb at 90 degrees and bent a lower rear control arm (since fixed). There is a price to everything but it was worth it.

Trust me, there were plenty of spinouts! I had way more of those than I did worthy drifts, but like a great golf shot, one good one makes you want to try more. I stayed waaaay away from any object that could hurt my car... I even picked up a few bigger rocks that were out there.

[M3 vert]

Just find an empty round-about or wait for the traffic to clear

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[immiketoo]

If I did that there, I would have killed my car twenty times over! Big lot = safe! Still that's a cool vid! I wonder what the bus driver was thinking?

[bavarian19]

Unfortunately, all the parking lots around here have light posts and curbs all around. So no winter fun where I am.

[Serious]

I have found the easiest way to initiate controlled drifts is to put the car on the limit then give a quick throttle lift to get some weight transfer to the front, add a little steering angle, then just stomp the throttle while starting to apply some opposite lock. Its also the easiest on the cars components (drivetrain, ebrake, etc.)

Quick video with a few drifts but mostly unadulterated tire destruction (they were worn out anyways):

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