BMW India’s highly successful Experience Tour comes to Pune and we take part in the mud-slinging frivolity.
Story: Jim Gorde
Photography: Sanjay Raikar
Having a car which promises sheer driving pleasure is good and all, but being given the chance to do that in closed-circuit conditions is something else, especially when one is in the middle of a city that has an average speed in single-figure km/h. BMW India have put things right with the Experience Tour. Initially beginning with just a couple of cities, it has now grown into a popular meeting of owners and enthusiasts in 18 cities across India. Why? Because one can simply get in, and experience what these fine Bavarian luxury machines are truly capable of.
This time round, the BMW Experience Tour was in Pune, home to Car India. We were invited for an ‘Off-road Experience’ which was essentially a dirt-track circle and slalom course. With our old friends from the top secret driving academy, Wong and Nash, doling out important information and pointers to improve our driving skills, it was time to put our learnings to the test.
First up was a 520d Luxury Line, to demonstrate the efficiency of the Dynamic Stability Control (DSC). With the DSC switched off, by holding the ‘wiggly car off’ button down – for a full six seconds, I might add – it was around the circle to try and induce a spin. As Wong reiterated, it isn’t speed that induces a slide, it’s torque overcoming traction. The 5 kicked up the dirt as I floored it, spinning around in a cloud of dust. The next thing to do was switch to ‘Sport’ mode and let the stability and traction control do its job. Essentially cutting off the input and with a dab of the brakes, the DSC as well as the DTC (dynamic traction control) put down the power in the most usable way possible, not letting wheel-spin get the better of the car’s dynamics.
