Oh no, I’ve been encouraged to spin and burn my tires
It’s really funny how sensitive some people are to ads. Or rather how sensitive they think the average person is. Yet another ad has been taken completely out of context. BMW’s new “Expression of joy” ad was banned in Australia. This is pretty ridiculous. The BMW in the ad is being driven at low speed with paint on its tires, on a huge white canvas, with the purpose of creating a piece of art. The Advertising Standards Bureau gave the following explanation:
“The board noted that the advertisement does depict in a number of places the driver intentionally allowing the wheels of the car to lose traction and perform . . . a four-wheel drift,”
One of the people who viewed the ad on TV complained that it “would encourage car hoons to spin and burn their tyres”.
Watch the ad below, and let me know if you are encouraged to go drive like a crazy person.
Customer picks up his 135th BMW
How is this for dedication. 73 year old Klaus Hammerschmidt recently picked up his 135th BMW from BMW Welt in Germany. He chose a black M6.
I think I may go after his record. 1 down, 134 to go…
Felipe Massa vs. Robert Kubica at Fuji 2007
I just found this video again, of Massa battling Kubica in the rain in Japan. The video is on-board from Massa’s car. It really is incredible, considering that the driver can see even less of what’s going on ahead of him than what we can see in this video. I guess the teams must have told the drivers that they were not near any other cars. Watch it below, it really demonstrates the skills of the best drivers in the world.
Driving impressions: BMW E39 M5
Awesomeness on four wheels: The M5
I have always wanted to experience an M5, so when I drove past a used car dealership the other day and saw that they had one in stock, I decided to take a look. It was a 2001 dark blue with black interior, in perfect condition. I told the salesman I was considering getting an M5 (which was not a complete lie), and asked for a test drive.
I slowly drove out the door and around the block. Then once the engine warmed up, I floored it. The traction control light flickered through all of first gear, and well into second. Then I decided to lift off, as I didn’t want to upset the salesman and I was over 80km/h already in the middle of town. I’ve read that with traction control off it’s possible to get wheelspin into 3rd gear. I then drove out of the town, to feel what it can do on the open road. Once again, it did not disappoint. No matter what speed I was doing, or in what gear, flooring the throttle would generate a massive burst of acceleration. Shifting gears is a mechanical process, which provides a lot of feedback. It feels like you’re pulling and pushing a lever, that you’re actually moving stuff around in the gearbox. And then there’s the noise. Although it is very subdued due to the stock exhaust (a less restrictive one would do wonders), the sound at 7,000rpm is incredible.
When I returned to the dealership I was seriously considering buying the car. However, it has more than 175,000km on the clock, and although it’s been looked after, there are some problems. And it is way overpriced.
The E39 M5 is already a legend, even though it went out of production only 5 years ago. It has four doors and a big boot, and can do 0-100km/h in less than 5 seconds. It’s a supremely comfortable long-distance cruiser, but can be used at track days to destroy most new sportscars. Plus it’s extremely understated, which in my book makes it even more awesome. Most people would think it’s just another older 5 series, not the potent musclecar that it is.
What makes the E39 special is that it’s a relatively simple car. It has a normal clutch, with a normal manual gearbox. It has only two buttons to control the driving experience: traction control on/off and sports mode. The E60 M5 (which replaced the E39) is a computer on wheels, with a stupid SMG flappy-paddle gearbox, and millions of settings to set up the suspension, steering, gearbox, engine, etc etc.
So now I am seriously looking for a perfect E39 M5. The power is intoxicating. I’ve always wanted one of these, now I need one!
P.S. It’s so diverse, it can even kick Madonna’s ass:
It’s official: Formula 1 is saved!
How quickly things can change when people start getting dramatic. Just a few days ago the 8 biggest teams in Formula 1 (the eight remaining FOTA members) announced that they were starting their own breakaway series. They were reacting to Max Mosley (dictatorpresident of the FIA) who had made some outrageous demands for the 2010 Formula 1 championship. As it turns out, the teams were united to sign unconditionally for the 2010 season the day before they announced the breakaway series, but when the final paperwork arrived from Mosley the terms on it were not as it was discussed. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The teams were outraged, and caused them to make the announcement.
The final opportunity for reconciliation between the FIA and FOTA was yesterday, when they had a meeting in Paris. If this meeting didn’t go well, the plans for a split would have continued. Fortunately, it all went well. As it turns out, FOTA was able to sway the FIA to do what they want to them to do. Bernie Ecclestone (commercial rights holder of F1, who got stinking rich from that position) realised that without the FOTA teams F1 would lose most of the money coming into the sport. This fact is probably what swayed him to change his tune, and submit to the teams.
So what were the teams’ demands? First of all, they demanded that Max Mosley not stand for re-election as FIA president in October. Secondly, they demanded that F1 keep its current regulations for the time being, with a more gradual reduction in costs. The FIA agreed to all of this. All the current teams agreed to race in F1 until 2012, and the new teams will be helped to get up and running by the existing teams (as they demonstrated when they helped Brawn GP at the beginning of the season).
Hopefully what all this means is that we will see FOTA’s representation of F1. This means clear and transparent rules, and cost reductions. FOTA also demonstrated that when the teams stand together, they can force the FIA to do their bidding. Which does actually makes sense, considering the teams are the ones spending all the millions of pounds and carrying all the risk.
All in all I think this is the best possible result we could have gotten out of this mess. It was unfortunate that it was all very public, which did a lot of damage to the sport. But F1 will recover, and I believe within a year the sport will be better than ever.
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