Winning with the BMW M4

So it was off to the BMW Car Club Gauteng Bridgestone Speed and Sound ODI 1km Top End Run day for some high performance fun. There were more than 50 cars competing this year and this kept the spectators entertained for most of the day at ODI, which is about 25km from the BMW SA Plant in Rosslyn. The 1km Top End Runs are all about speed, with participants seeing the fastest speed their vehicles can travel by the 1km marker and not about traction off the line.

And thank goodness for that, because one little annoying quirk came to the fore on this day: if the surface is slippery, which it is at ODI, then the M4’s launch control gets quickly overwhelmed and the car leaves big expensive black lines well into third gear before it hooks up and really gets going.

Mark Jones, right, receives his first place trophy. Pictures: Paul Blackburn

This means you have to hold on tightly as the M4 snakes left and right in fury and the sprint times come down substantially – while I did manage to post a very fast 250km/h in 1km. That put me first in class and made me and the M4 winners on the day. To put this into perspective, there was a Nissan GT-R that ran too – and this car recorded a 255km/h 1km speed. So to run in this company gives you an idea of just how fast the BMW M4 is.

Not to be outdone though, the BMW’s continued the impressive showing, with the fastest BMW on the day – a E46 M3 Turbo, piloted by Sav Gaultieri from SavSpeed Racing – recording a staggeringly quick 275km/h. Vaughan Bentley was second fastest in his F13 BMW M6 at 273km/h and hot on his tail in third position was Wayne Engelbrecht, also in an F13 BMW M6 at 272km/h.

The BMW M4. Picture: Supplied

I can tell you these are speeds that put these BMW cars ahead of the likes of a Porsche 911 Turbo S and many other exotics. The next update on my time with the BMW M4 will be on August 5 in Citizen Motoring, and by then I would have completed a BMW Car Club Track Day and the BMW Driver’s Pack that sees its speed limiter moved to 280km/h will also have been fitted.

For up-to-date BMW Car Club Gauteng’s happenings, visit www.bmwcarclub.co.za and for more information on BMW in general, you can visit www.bmw.co.za.

Follow me at @markjonesZA23.