Hands-on training keeps BMW driver alert

By DAVID LINKLATER

The front wheels of the silver 3-Series are locked up and the steering lifeless, as the car slides towards the group of onlookers. Then, at the last moment, the driver comes off the brakes. The steering returns and the car darts sharply left to safety.

Silence. Then a small round of applause. Near-miss incidents aren't normally this dignified. But then they don't normally happen on the Pukekohe motor racing circuit, and the driver isn't usually motor racing ace Geoff Brabham.

What's the occasion? Australia-based BMW Driver Training's first visit to New Zealand. Brabham and his team of three instructors spent six days here last month, introducing a select group of Kiwi BMW owners to the German marque's method of advanced driving instruction.

In its current format the course has been on the go in Australia for 15 months, travelling around the country with a fleet of 30 cars. Last year it operated for 150 days, which explains how it has trained 3000 drivers in such a short space of time.

But the roots of the course go much further back. Internationally, BMW Driver Training has been around since 1977, and has grown from 800 to over 10,000 students per year in Germany alone. Not to mention a fleet of 200 vehicles.

It's the largest manufacturer-backed programme of its kind in the world and covers 12 countries. The courses are standardised, and all instructors are trained in Germany by BMW.

There are three stages offered, each more advanced than the last. Only the first was brought to New Zealand, since that's required before the next two can be tackled.

It's a full day, but a fun one as well since there's only an hour or so in the classroom. The rest of the time is spent out on the track, practising cornering lines or working through emergency maneouvres.

The basics of the stage one day are not dramatically different from other advanced driver training programmes, but what makes the BMW course special is that the instruction is as slick as a 3-Series chassis.

All instructors are in contact with the students via one-way in-car radio, and all seem to have eyes in the back of their heads. As the fleet of low-flying BMWs rounds the hairpin at Pukekohe, our instructor reminds one driver - who is well behind him - to alter the position of the hands on the steering wheel.

BMW New Zealand had another agenda for the course. The company is currently considering turbo diesel models for its local line-up, and with a captive audience of existing customers filtering through Pukekohe for six days it provided a fleet of 320d sedans for evaluation.

The 320d's 2.0-litre turbo diesel four uses two-stage injection and a variable nozzle turbine turbocharger to deliver 100kW at 4000rpm and 280Nm at just 1750rpm. The lightness of the diesel engine helps keep the 320d's weight distribution at an ideal 50/50, while the surging torque delivery made easy work of the Pukekohe circuit.

The cars were all showroom-standard, apart from a switch in the cabin to disable the anti-lock braking system - hence the opportunity for locked-up wheels during the day's exercises.