If they won't come to the mountain, the mountain will come to them

Young people are not interested in cars anymore, or at least that's what the research and marketing people tell us. "Millenials", what an awful term, are more into smart phones and updating their Facebook status than even getting a drivers license, forget about sports cars. Potential reasons for this are outlined in a recent Atlantic article and manufacturers have scrambled to reconnect with "those kids" with various degrees of success.

Let's face it, driving has become more and more of a hassle, expense, congestion, law enforcement. There are a few surviving ways to really enjoy your car, especially your performance car: organized track days (or autocross) are one and increasingly, virtual reality.

Sims have gotten to a point where even commercially available games can offer you an experience that is beyond what hyper exotic stand-alone systems could offer ten years ago. Every professional driver will learn a new track on a sim now, many using iRacing or Simraceway (who just announced a huge deal with INDY car). It is just the way things are done now.

BMW has been ahead of this, a year and a half ago they began collaborating with British game developer Eutechnyx and their Auto Club Revolution, a browser based racing game aimed at the enthusiast. ACR will combine real world tracks with forums and links to manufacturers and the aftermarket. The idea is to build a community for race fans, aftermarket tuners and manufacturers where you can experience and share real world cars and parts.

BMW will offer, within the game, a special "BMW Experience" which includes a specially designed race track, where players will be able to demonstrate their driving skill just with the BMW 1 Series M Coupé. Once they have successfully completed this BMW challenge, players can transfer the BMW 1 Series M Coupé to the main game for free, and set new track records by themselves or with friends..

Andreas-Christoph Hofmann, Vice President Brand Communication BMW, Marketing services BMW Group: “Our customers are tech-savvy and love to be able to put their dream car together the way they want. Auto Club Revolution has the possibility to make our models accessible to a large number of car enthusiasts. It was extremely important to us that our models be portrayed realistically. In Eutechnyx we found a partner who shares our highest quality standards.”

Will this work for BMW? We'll see. Perhaps we need to do a real world comparison with one of the Axis 1Ms... certainly the smoke looks close to what we were able to make when we had a chance to play with one!

Have a look, starting today:    bmw.autoclubrevolution.com

Press release after the jump

6 Million Dollar Spider: Ferrari F1 Simulator

That Darth Vader looking thing you see is Ferrari's Formula 1 simulator, the real one not the rFactor Pro powered one they will build for special clients for 350000 Euro...if they like you.
No, that's the famous 5 Million Euro simulator built for the 2010 season. I had never seen pictures of it until these.

A 5 million simulator of course is the result of Formula One cost cutting measures with the elimination of most testing. That's why we love F1: Why $6M simulator? Because cost savings!

In any case, simulation is now fully a part of racing, be it Sebastien Buemi getting a job as a Red Bull Racing reserve driver based on his simulator skills or the Gran Turismo 5 gamer team scoring a podium finish at the recent 24 Hours of Dubai.

Driving a fully professional simulator is no easy task and not for everyone, Autosprint, who published these pictures, tells how Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer was not able to do it because he would get nauseous. But before you laugh at Badoer again, consider even Schumacher is said to get queazy in motion sims.



Inside the 4000lbs sphere suspended 15 feet above the ground, is an actual 2010 Ferrari F150 just without engine and wheels. The driver is blasted by a massive sound system and facing a 180 degree 3D high definition projection.

I don't know if Maranello's Moog actuated carbon fiber spider is still the best, I believe that honor goes to Toyota Gmbh but the fact pictures are available and Ferrari has invited a journalist to drive the big machine tells me that perhaps there is something new around the corner.

New Start for Silverstone

Advance the above clip to 0:54 secs and you will get to the new start/finish position for the British GP at Silverstone. It's the culmination of a multi year renewal plan which has included a madification to the layout first seen in 2010 and completed this year with the opening of the new pit and paddock complex on the opposite end of the track.


photo: Steve Gamage

So no more 180 mph Copse after the start, the new turn 1 is Abbey but all the first lap action will potentially be in the "new" Arena section turns: Village, Aintree and then after the Wellington Straight into the Luffield loop.

Silverstone Circuit guide via Adam Pigott Photography

It should be nice improvement and it's great to see investment being made in a classic racing facility like Silverstone. The British classic has worked hard to expand beyond just the Grand Prix and into a full fledged "experience".

Silverstone now offers a complete rage of "experiences" ranging from single seater driver to "hot laps" to car control clinics and racing schools. find more at Silverstone.co.uk.

Also at Silverstone is iZone Racing, a driving training facility with services for racers ranging from simulator to media to mental training. Below is a clip of their simulator. You can ride it for about 60 Euro per hour and apparently even Michael Schumacher got motion sickness the first time he tried it!





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Simulate this...

Now that's what we would call a proper winter pastime. Ps3 not doing it for you? You find the Xbox360 so early 2000's? Time to cough up for something like the Williams F1 team have in their garage...




Seems like Williams is doing a brisk business of putting journalists in F1 cars. OK more like ex drivers but check out Martin Brundle getting back in an F1 after many years. Listen to his voice and compare to those cool voices coming from the cockpit of a Michael Schumacher or even a Lewis Hamilton....Gives you a good idea of the efforts involved in driving a modern F1 car, doesn't it?




from AxisOfOversteer.com and Vimeo.