The Ultimate Driving Experience

August 16, 2010

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I was a little nervous, sitting at the starting line behind the wheel of one of the world’s most amazing cars, a beautiful, silver BMW M5 with its 500 horsepower V-10 engine idling, waiting to propel me down the track. I thought I understood what being a good driver was before Jon Tattersall of the Terminus Club invited me to attend the Drive for Drive Program at the BMW Performance Driving Center near Greenville, South Carolina. As it turned out, the Center’s staff introduced me to a completely different definition of “driving.”

My adrenaline was rushing, the track was clear, and then the signal came over my radio, “Okay, Patrick — Go!” In an instant, the car’s heads-up display told me that I was approaching 8,000 rpm. Shift into second. Just as quickly, it was time to shift into third. By the end of the straightaway, the engine sung at the top end of third gear — almost 100 mph. Thankfully, the M5 can stop in a shockingly short distance! The upcoming orange cones quickly signified my first turn — and the first true test of my new skills. I had to trust that, by easing off the brakes as I entered the turn, I would gain the traction necessary to make the turn quicker and on the proper line. The M5 cornered with frightening ease until I reached the apex and was back on the throttle. It was the best turn I’d made all day — a maneuver that I hadn’t even imagined hours earlier.

Perhaps for the first time in my life, I was driving.