Took part in BMW's "UltimateDrive" event today. Basically a marketing show that they take around the country to let you to try out their electric and hybrid cars and sell classes at their South Carolina and California Performance Driving Schools.
I got three 2-lap sessions on an "autocross" course, both in all-electric and hybrid 4-series cars. I haven't driven an all-electric car before and I was pretty impressed. I liked it better than the hybrid. The cool part of this event, though, was the "Teen Driving School". While I was doing my thing, my kid was doing a parallel event for teens, doing threshold braking and high-speed lane change exercises, and even a little drifting in cars with their rear tires covered in some sort of plastic to encourage sliding.
Kudos to BMW for offering the teen event as part of the show - both for the educational aspect and for helping to make it more of a "family" event. Also happy that the kid gets to practice this stuff using somebody else's tires and brakes. Great bonding opportunity, even if this means the kid now thinks I have to buy a new BMW...
Teen classroom session:
Adult classroom:
The kid lining up for his next exercise:
... and he was still smiling at the end of it!
