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Drift World Champion Rhys Millen Takes the M235i for a Proper Spin

BMW got some of the best stunt drivers in the world together in Cape Town, South Africa, this year, to shoot a new commercial with their M235i model. You’ve seen it on our website earlier today. Yes, we’re talking about the Driftmob.
BMW M235i 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from Youtube
Amongst them you could spot Rhys Millen as well, the 2008 World Drift Champion and 2012 Pikes Peak overall champion as he says in the video but that’s actually just the tip of the iceberg.

Rhys was the highest ranked non-Japanese driver in Formula D championships and he’s done some really impressive work in movies like the Dukes of Hazard, Mr and Mrs Smith and even the legendary Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, a movie that brought drifting the international exposure it needed to become a phenomenon.

Therefore, having him behind the wheel of a BMW M235i is bound to create some great shots. However, we were a bit surprised to see his choice in making this video. He went for an automatic 8-speed gearbox, while we expected him to choose a manual 6-speed in its place.

There could be a couple of reasons behind this decision, including BMW wanting to promote its 8-speed gearbox and the maneuverability of the car in both configurations. Even so, that gearbox is absolutely brilliant and may this be a marketing scheme or not, the bottom line is you’ll be able to do almost anything you want with it, without ever missing the manual.

You should also know that the M235i comes, as standard, fitted with the automatic 8-speed transmission in the US, for $43,100. However, you can also get the 6-speed manual if that tickles your fancy for no added cost. In the rest of the world, the cars come with the manual gearbox as standard and you'd have to pay, on average, around €2,000 for the ZF unit.

For that money, you get a faster car (4.8 seconds vs 5 seconds) from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) while also reducing the fuel consumption on average. In the end, it's all down to personal preference.

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