Photo: Screenshot from Youtube
The thing about ever increasing power levels is that they are turning our cars into more and more dangerous road missiles. Sure, electronics are there to keep us safe most of the time but even they have their limits and the biggest barrier against their work is our own will.
Most manufacturers know that and, in order to protect us from ourself, are implementing systems that can’t be completely turned off. Basically they are on no matter what and they will make sure you get home either safe and sound or with as little pain as possible.
On the other hand, such attitudes brought out revolt in the enthusiast corner, people claiming that they should be allowed to enjoy their cars to the fullest. Therefore, some companies are still allowing you to completely turn off the safety assistance systems.
One such manufacturer is BMW but that is still a risky proposal, especially since their highest performing models are also rear-wheel drive and, therefore, even more dangerous that their rivals that are usual all-wheel drive.
That’s because the rear end can slip without a moment’s notice, throwing you off your course in a millisecond, just like it happened to this poor driver here.
The 3-liter biturbo engine under the bonnet of his M4 and its 431 HP took him by surprise and threw him on the median of the road, almost flying.
As you can see in the video, he tried to counter steer but his reaction wasn’t enough in the bigger picture. Later on he even jumped on a popular BMW forum and explained what happened that day:
"It was my car that was involved and a mistake was made. There were no intentions of doing anything out of the norm. In fact, you'll notice in the video that the car was going very slowly in front of the crowd.
Once the car was past the crowd the accelerator was pushed in a straight-line as I have done many times in the past when the rear snapped violently. The car was going ~30mph at that time. The car has been driven for 4700 miles and has been driven with DSC off many times including in the rain and never has the car snapped so violently just from accelerating. I chalk it up to several factors including cold temps (low 40s), cold tires and incorrect psi (more on that later) and of course driver error."
We absolutely agree with his take. The truth of the matter is, he’s fortunate that there was no car coming on the other lane, otherwise things could’ve gone pretty bad in a flash.
On top of that, the driver mentions that he had plenty of RWD cars before and even has plenty of track time but sometimes things just go out of hand, no matter how much experience you have. Fortunately, nobody was hurt and, according to the owner, the car wasn't damaged too bad either, no visible cracks or scratches being noticed afterwards. Of course, a more thorough search could reveal more interesting things...
On the other hand, such attitudes brought out revolt in the enthusiast corner, people claiming that they should be allowed to enjoy their cars to the fullest. Therefore, some companies are still allowing you to completely turn off the safety assistance systems.
One such manufacturer is BMW but that is still a risky proposal, especially since their highest performing models are also rear-wheel drive and, therefore, even more dangerous that their rivals that are usual all-wheel drive.
That’s because the rear end can slip without a moment’s notice, throwing you off your course in a millisecond, just like it happened to this poor driver here.
The 3-liter biturbo engine under the bonnet of his M4 and its 431 HP took him by surprise and threw him on the median of the road, almost flying.
As you can see in the video, he tried to counter steer but his reaction wasn’t enough in the bigger picture. Later on he even jumped on a popular BMW forum and explained what happened that day:
"It was my car that was involved and a mistake was made. There were no intentions of doing anything out of the norm. In fact, you'll notice in the video that the car was going very slowly in front of the crowd.
Once the car was past the crowd the accelerator was pushed in a straight-line as I have done many times in the past when the rear snapped violently. The car was going ~30mph at that time. The car has been driven for 4700 miles and has been driven with DSC off many times including in the rain and never has the car snapped so violently just from accelerating. I chalk it up to several factors including cold temps (low 40s), cold tires and incorrect psi (more on that later) and of course driver error."
We absolutely agree with his take. The truth of the matter is, he’s fortunate that there was no car coming on the other lane, otherwise things could’ve gone pretty bad in a flash.
On top of that, the driver mentions that he had plenty of RWD cars before and even has plenty of track time but sometimes things just go out of hand, no matter how much experience you have. Fortunately, nobody was hurt and, according to the owner, the car wasn't damaged too bad either, no visible cracks or scratches being noticed afterwards. Of course, a more thorough search could reveal more interesting things...
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