Keeping your cool is always the best course of action.
The Nurburgring is widely regarded as one of the most treacherous tracks on the planet. Crashes are a common occurrence here, and while some can be pretty minor, some are rather severe. Fortunately for one BMW driver, categorizing a crash is something that needn't even be discussed after lightning-quick reflexes and a cool head prevailed during a recent excursion on the track. The car being driven was a pre-facelift E92 BMW 335i (that's the one with the legendary N54 twin-turbo straight-six) and it was released with an open differential, which makes what you're about to see below all the more impressive.
Obviously, we don't know if the owner fitted an aftermarket limited-slip differential, but even if that was done, this driver clearly has some serious skills. The left rear tire slips onto the grass at around 93 mph, initiating a hair-raising slide. Worse still, it happens on a very narrow portion of the track just before a bend. As if holding the slide wasn't scary enough, what happened next must have chilled the blood. As soon as the car's rear wheels hit the asphalt again, the dab of opposite lock applied by the driver suddenly becomes a danger and the car violently jerks back towards the Armco. Fortunately, the driver anticipated this (likely as a result of years' worth of experience) and corrected the old BMW 3 Series to send it on a safe trajectory instantly.
The E90 BMW 3 Series had many attractive qualities along with a number of negative attributes, among them the fitment of an open differential. When the F-series vehicles arrived and the 3 Series Coupe morphed into the 4 Series Coupe, an electronic rear diff was added for greater control in situations such as these. But whether you're driving an old sportscar or a new supercar with all the toys and safety measures you could ever want, keeping calm in a high-stress situation invariably proves to be the best course of action. Even so, we bet the driver needed to change his jocks after this one.
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