TrackTest: BMW M3What do you get when you mix a wet track, a tricked up M3, and a man famous for driving sideways? Conor Twomeyfinds out
As I hand over the keys to Eric O'Sullivan, I'm very nervous. This is the only M3 on the press fleet, and damaging BMW's 420hp, €100,000 baby is not an option. But the track is wet, O'Sullivan has never driven this car before, and it's a lot heavier, softer and more powerful than his usual track car, a custom-built 250hp, Honda S2000-powered Toyota Corolla AE86.
He jumps in, fires it up, and pushes the M button, which I have programmed to put the active suspension, electronic differential, power-steering system and throttle response in their sportiest modes, as well as completely disengaging the stability and traction control systems. Within 30 metres, he's got the M3 completely sideways and is showing no signs of coming out of the slide any time soon. Man, he's good.
Eric O'Sullivan isn't your typical racing driver - he's a drifter. The Irish Prodrift Champion 2007, to be more precise. Although it's not a mainstream form of motorsport in Europe yet, drifting is huge in both Japan, where it originated in the winding mountain roads north of Tokyo, and in the US, where just about anything to do with fast cars is popular.
Drifting involves pitching a rear-wheel-drive car deliberately into a slide and controlling it as it rounds the corner sideways. There are three main ways to initiate the slide - using the handbrake, popping the clutch, or simply mashing the throttle into the floor at the crucial moment. The slide is maintained mostly by careful throttle control, although some steering adjustments might also be required to control the cars trajectory.
Unlike circuit, road or drag racing, drifting isn't about being the fastest on four wheels, but the most stylish. The successful drifter must get the car as sideways as possible, maintain a smooth arc, and keep the drift going for as long as possible. The higher the skill level, the higher the speed at which this can be achieved (at Mondello Park, professional drifters go through turn two sideways at over 100km/h), all of which is taken into account by the judges, who award points based on these criteria.
Today, though, we're not judging the driver but the car. We've asked O'Sullivan to offer his opinion on the new M3 from the perspective of someone for whom handling balance is everything. To keep wear and tear to a minimum, we've chosen a wet day and limited driving to Mondello's turn one. It's a corner the drifters are well used to, a slow, constant radius corner with lots of gravel traps and run off, should things go pear-shaped.
Initially, although O'Sullivan makes it look easy, he finds the M3 a little tricky, fidgety and difficult to hold, but once he ups his entry speed into the corner, it all starts to come together. The M3's high-revving engine and slightly constrained steering lock make it a difficult car to slide at low speeds, but at higher speeds the M3's balance and ample power output make it a drifter's dream. He's impressed.
The track is just starting to dry out, so it's time to go - drifting on a dry track is very punishing on the tyres, differentials, driveshafts and clutch, and the M3 is simply too valuable to hand back to BMW hammered.
But before we depart, I jump in to watch O'Sullivan at work. Compared to most ride-alongs with professional drivers, what's remarkable about this one is how calm and smooth it all is. A quick yank of the handbrake and we're sideways and O'Sullivan boots the throttle to light up the rear wheels. Meanwhile, the car dials in its own steering lock and once we're at the right angle, minute but extremely precise adjustments of the throttle are all that are required to hold the drift.
As we approach the exit to the corner, rather than lifting to snap the car back into line, he simply applies more throttle to keep the slide going. The M3 fishtails, the back end swinging the other way as Eric finishes off his S-shaped drift. Eventually, the wheels catch up with the car and the slide is over. No drama, no violent changes of direction, no frantic sawing away at the controls. It's an almost perfect fusion of car and driver working magnificently together. I say almost because, well, this isn't your M3, Eric. It's BMW Ireland's, and I'm pretty sure they want it back.