As has become expected, the Goodwood Festival of Speed was a
perfect blend of ancient and modern, the weird and the whacky, celebrating
everything that's great about the motoring world. For fans of the blue and
white roundel it was a little bit disappointing this year as BMW Classic didn't
bring over a fleet of its historic machinery but as it had plenty of machinery
on show at Le Mans Classic we guess we can forgive it on this occasion!
This year we combined our visit to the Moving Motor Show
with a trip to the Goodwood Circuit where we were lucky enough to sample some
of BMW's latest range of monster M cars before returning to the Festival to run
an M3 up the hill. One of the most interesting aspects of our time on the track
was being able to drive a manual M3 back to back with a DCT version and then
having a direct comparison to the mighty M5, too.
The
Festival of Speed is the largest motoring garden party in the world – a unique
summer weekend that brings together an impossibly heady mix of cars, stars and
motor sport ‘royalty’ to create the largest car culture event in the world.
First up on track was the DCT M3 and after having driven the
car extensively on the road it was just as impressive on Goodwood's flowing
circuit, too. It should be pointed out that we didn't do a huge number of laps
but on the flowing Sussex circuit it felt absolutely ballistic with abundant
power and slick shifts from the DCT transmission. The cars we sampled were
running on the standard brakes and these felt more than up to the job, although
there's only one really hard stop on the track. The chassis is ultimately setup
to understeer but this can be corrected on the throttle and it does resist
pushing on from the front end very well.
The manual machine was a little bit of a revelation as we'd
forgotten that it's now setup to rev match on downchanges just like the DCT
machine. For just a split second we thought we'd finally become masters of the
heel and toe technique only to then realize that it was the car doing it for
us!
For just a split
second we thought we'd finally become masters of the heel and toe technique
only to then realize that it was the car doing it for us!
The six-speed does seem to suit the car well but it didn't
feel quite as quick as the DCT around the circuit. This might have something to
do with the gearing or perhaps just having more confidence in the DCT-equipped
car.
By way of contrast the F10 M5 didn't feel quite so light on
its toes around the track but on the highest speed section it felt like it was
pulling harder than the M3s had been. Ultimately we think the M3 would be more
fun on track given longer behind the wheel, due to its lighter weight and
better responses.
While BMW interest at the actual Festival was more or less
limited to a couple of McLaren F1s and a gorgeous Liuzzi CSL running up Lord
March's drive there was still plenty for BMW fans to see at both The Moving
Motor Show and on the BMW stand. BMW had a fleet of M3s and M4s for potential
owners to run up the hill and while it's fun to be able to pilot an M car up
the drive there's a blanket 50mph speed limit for non-race license holders so
it was ultimately a little bit of a tame experience but good fun nonetheless.
On the BMW stand there was an M4 Coupé and an M4 Convertible, an M3 Saloon, an
X4, a smattering of i8s and a selection of other models to get the cheque book
quivering. Alpina was also on hand with its new B4 Coupé which looks like an M4
but with added exclusivity.
The
Goodwood Festival of Speed will open with the Moving Motor Show, to give new car buyers
and motoring enthusiasts the opportunity to see the very latest models up
close, and in many cases drive them on a dedicated vehicle evaluation route
within the grounds of the Goodwood Estate, including the revered Festival hill
climb.
Overall the Festival of Speed was a huge celebration of all
things automotive and if nothing else it's just brilliant to be able to get up
close and personal to so many iconic cars, which is a rare experience these
days.
