Testing at the Nurburgring is more important for allowing engineers to be able to tune cars without distractions than it is for setting fastest lap times, according to BMW's driving dynamics boss Peter Langen.
Speaking in reference to the new BMW 3 Series, Z4 and 8 Series, all of which will launch this year, Langen said that he believes more benefit comes from his familiarity with the famed circuit than his ability to drive cars quickly around it.
“The key point is that it is long, challenging, has many surfaces and corner types, yet I know it well enough to be able to drive it with the capacity to concentrate 100% on what the car is doing,” he said.
“There is room for setting quickest lap times of course - it proves something and is a nice benchmark." The brand recently revealed the upcoming Z4 roadster was faster around the famous circuit than an M2, and future M-badged performance models are regularly spotted undergoing high-speed testing.
"But for me, out on track, it is very rarely important to be the fastest driver out there. It is far more important that I am driving somewhere where I can put all my focus into what the car is doing.”
While admitting that the same could be said for any racetrack, Langen pointed out that decades of experience benchmarking cars at the ‘Ring, plus the quality and variety of local public roads, made it an ideal location: “We use it a lot, I know, but it offers challenges that meet our needs,” he said.
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It would be nice if some
It would be nice if some manufacter focused on ride comfort in their saloon cars rather than nurburgring handling. The nurburgring does not represent the average UK potholed commute.
WallMeerkat wrote:
Have you actually driven on the Nurburgring? It's a surprisingly similar surface to the average UK B road. It's very bumpy in places, particularly around the Karussell.
In my experience, a car that is set up to go around the Nurburgring quickly tends to also have decent bump absorbtion and well-controlled body movements.
legless wrote:
Agreed and having had a ride in the latest 5-series, I can tell you it rides really smoothly, cetainly much more than I expected.
@ legless
Yes, driven it many times, and despite the roughness of the Karussell which is concrete, I have never found any large potholes or collapsed road camber!
And, of course...
...it's good for publicity and great fun for our engineers!