Bucket Seat: Mini Test Pilot - SA Festival of Motoring

So as most of you know, that's if you follow me on Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat, last week I was invited to the SA Festival of Motoring held at the refurbished Kyalami Circuit by Mini South Africa. For those of you who didn't catch the action, fear not as I captured as much as I could and will recap most of the action here on the blog. It was an early start to the day last Friday but it was entirely worth it, we arrived and the brand spanking new Kyalami Grandprix Circuit for the start of proceedings. It was my first time visiting the track after it underwent a major overhaul, I've got to say Toby Venter has done a magnificent job with the track and here's hoping it hosts some major races in the motor sport calendar in the coming future. 

Edward Makwana of BMW

Back to the schedule of the day, after arriving at the Mini stand at the SA Festival of Motoring and registering for the day ahead, Edward Makwana of BMW gave us a brief run down on Mini's John Cooper Works model as well as the history behind the legendary racing name. Mini has a proud racing heritage, stemming from the Rally days with John Cooper and now with the latest generation Mini's see's them make their way onto the track, and to tell us more about that we were introduced to current Mini Challenge Champion Charlie Butler Henderson of the UK, name sounds sort of familiar? That's because his sister might be recognised on 5th Gear. Charlie was down with his Mini Challenge Race car to show exactly how fast you can get a Mini to go!

Myself and Charlie Butler Henderson

First up though was us trying our hand at taking the production version JCW out on track. I know it won't relate to everyone but almost every young boys dream is to one day be a race car driver and for me it was my first time racing on a proper race track. Having done my BMW Dynamic Driving course, I had suitable knowledge on how to handle the car but by no means would I consider myself a pro. Luckily for us we had instructors in the car giving us tips about the track and car. We were allowed one lap around the new circuit and it was extremely thrilling, having the chance to push the Mini JCW to its peak potential was exhilarating to the say the least. Also most of the driving aides were turned off to allow maximum track feel. 

I thought I did a pretty decent job of the lap, well that was until I jumped into the passenger seat and the instructor showed me how it was done. It was then I realised I got some practicing to do if I want to resurrect my dream of becoming a race driver. After that kick back into reality, it was time to for me to strap into the Mini Challenge, Charlie wanted to show me how to really drive around the track! Word's cannot describe the feeling, firstly being strapped into a race car and secondly being thrown around the track at high speeds, it was all good fun and better than any roller coaster ride you can think of! Charlie is a pro and have experienced going around a track with him is something you will remember forever. After completing all the activities, we were awarded honorary Mini Test Pilot statuses, not a bad accolade to have if you ask me. 

That was it for the day but I went to visit the boys down at BMW in their pit garage to see what all the fuss was about. Apart from all their M cars, the Germans brought down their mighty M6 GT3 along with it's driver Jens Klingmann, that car is nothing short of awesome and epitomizes everything BMW M Power stands for. It was by far the loudest and fastest car present their that weekend. Other goodies hidden in the BMW garage was the recently launched M4 GTS, of which only 23 will be sold locally. The BMW 30th Anniversary M3 Jarhe and flown in from Germany, the BMW M760Li. A true luxury limousine with a monster V12 engine in the front. 

Overall it was an amazing experience and I would like to thank BMW and Mini for making this happen as it was Bucket list stuff that was being ticked off that day. Cannot wait to see what next year's festival has in store!

Some highlights for the Festival

Riding shotgun in the BMW M3

Riding with Charlie Butler Henderson

BMW M6 GT3

BMW M3 30 Jahre

BMW M760Li

Bucket Seat: BMW M2

With all the hype built around the vehicle with the various spy pictures taken while it was in testing, many couldn't wait to see what the final product looked like and BMW did not disappoint! Many renders did the rounds with copy and pasted bumpers and side skirts from the M4 but the Germans tweaked things a bit with the front air intakes and lower stance, only thing it did borrow from the M4 was the 19" forged aluminium rims. 

It looks menacing and it should be, since it's powered by an all new 3 litre six-cylinder in-line-engine with M TwinPower Turbo technology. That beast of an engine develops 272kW and 370bhp at 6,500rpm with a reported fuel combined fuel consumption of 8.5l/100km thus making it the most powerful car in it's segment. 

Even though BMW calls this an all new model because of the name badge, it's predecessor, the 1M was loads of fun to drive for any motoring enthusiast,  in fact, Jeremy Clarkson said he'd rather buy a 1M than an M3 and that says a lot, so this M2 has got a lot to deliver but I have a feeling that it will be more than capable of doing do. 

It will be launched locally in the second quarter of next year, no indication of pricing yet but it's not going to be cheap, ultimately, you pay for what you get and in this one, you're getting a lot! The interior looks great, following its bigger M brothers with full racing inspired style, carbon fibre and aluminium finishes, racing leather seats and the whole M Sport package. It's a pocket rocket that's sure to send you smiling as you go sideways into a bend, we cannot wait to meet this one.

Bucket Seat: BMW M4 Convertible

With the local launch of BMW's road assault weapon the M4 just taken place under a month ago, word arrived from Germany of a topless version of the vehicle. If the M4 coupe were compared to a movie, it would be rated R18 LV with lots of violence from the power and strong language from the grunt of the engine, much like the Expendables. Now the M4 convertible is very similar but with added nudity, so R18 VN, the same violent power, strong language with the engine and you can take the top off.

The car follows the same lines as the 4 series convertible with the added masculinity of the M brand giving it a lower stance, bigger air intakes and flared wheel arches, no to mention the black rims. They've also added a few custom colours that are only available for this model. The interior is pretty much the same as the M4 coupe with a few different colour schemes, only thing different about it is that the roof comes down and you get a wind buffer to manually set up over the back seats should there be no passengers in them. 

The car gets the same 3 litre, 6 cylinder beast of an engine as its brother the coupe but due to the added weight from the roof, the performance figures are a bit down but not that much as they're almost on par with the M3. That's not too shabby if you ask me. The downside to this car again would be the luggage space, or lack of it. They do however kept the clever system of allowing one to access the space even when the roof is down which is brilliant as far as I'm concerned. 

For those that remember, I wasn't too pleased about the 4 series convertible but something about this particular car just makes sense. The M4 with its engine and exhaust system shifts away from the hollow "tin noise" as many described it of the old M3 and now has a more devilishly sounding grunt or roar to it, so it only makes sense that the driver also gets to experience this musical symphony for himself and not a drowned out cabin version of it. Whether or not I get to test the new M4 convertible remains to be seen, but here's crossing all fingers and toes that I do!

Bucket Seat: 2014 BMW M3 & M4

They're probably the two most anticipated cars of 2014, one is an icon in its own right and the other is a legend in the making. BMW kept it very close to themselves the detailed specifications of the cars but last week they released official pictures as well as performance specs on both models. They're both reasonably light in weight coming in at approximately 1,5 tons with the M3 sedan being the heavier of the two but both powered with a 3 ltr, 6 cylinder Twin Turbo engine and a 6 speed manual gear box (7 speed dual clutch automatic gear box available as an optional extra. The cars sit on 18" alloys which are wrapped with 255/40's at the front and 275/40's at the back giving the perfect grip around the corners at high speeds, along with BMW's perfect 50/50 weight distribution it's one of BMW's most thrilling cars yet. Below are more specifications as well as some of the official pictures for you to drool over. The car is due here in June 2014, here's hoping I make the cut for the official launch. *hint hint*

Specifications

• 3 litre, 6 cylinder twinscroll turbo charged engine
• 6 speed manual/ 7 speed dual clutch automatic (optional extra), step-tronic gear box
• 317kW
• 431bhp 
• 550Nm torque
• Consumption: 12ltr/ 100km (urban driving)
• Top Speed: 250kph (governed)
• 0-100kph: 4.1 seconds 
• Price: not known at the moment but wont be surprised if it is around the bar mark.

Legend is born

Well I can't say I never anticipated this because as stated in my post about the 4 series it was quite evident this was on its way. This weekend at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, BMW will for the first time showcase its M4 Concept to the public. Not much is being said about the heart of this beast but many hinting it could be a twin turbo, 3 litre, 6 cylinder engine which pushes out 450bhp. That's about 35bhp more than E92 M3 Coupe that it replaces. The car itself looks magnificent, it retains much of the bulk shown to us in the initial 4 series Concept with added carbon fibre bits similar to other M Powered models. The paint they've chosen for the official photoshoot and should be launch colour is similar to the yellow/ gold that was offered in the E46. This car is destined to write its own folklore in BMW history, we still have to wait a little while longer before we can see what its finally offered in the production version but lets hope not much changes form the concept as it looks absolutely brilliant!