I found another great way of wasting money today, car-stylee. 
The VMAX runs at Bruntingthorpe proving ground give you the chance to drive your car a full chat down an airstrip with a timing device at the end of the runway that records your speed.
Needless to say, I was there early in the 520i, and only a few cars were there when I arrived, including an Ultima GTR, a 928 and a 911 Turbo. However, during the course of the day, I shared runway with a Ferrari 360 and a 430, a Bentley Continental GT, a convertible Lambroghini Gallardo, an XKR, RS4's, 911 GT2's, M3's and CSL's, a Z4MC, an AMG CL63, a Ruf Cayenne Turbo, an M6, an Alpina B5, more 911 Turbos than you could shake a stick at, Z06 Corvettes, etc., etc. Unfortunately, even though I managed to remember my camera, my camera batteries were flat. :fightwall:
Anyway, it was a fantastic day, well organised and great fun. The Continental was surprisingly quick, as were the RS4's. The AMG was incredible: when he pulled off he was pushing so much torque the car just stood there shredding its tyres! The Alpina B5 just reeled off lap after lap in the 185-190 range! The Ultima sounded awesome. The GT2s are amazing cars, easily the quickest there, running at about 190MPH. Just before I left, a Spaniard pitched up with a Ruf 9ff cabriolet. He went out and blitzed the whole show at 202MPH on his first lap ... WITH HIS ROOF DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :drool:
I managed a very creditable 160MPH and I think if there was a bit more runway I could probably have made 165 because the car was still pulling quite strongly with 750RPM left in 5th gear. But I was very happy with 160, and I was even more happy with the ease and consistency of the 520i's performance; while other cars may have been quicker, they were forever fiddling about with their cars, I just got in and did run after run in the 155-160 range. My best run with all the junk in the car and 2 passengers was 156 and still pulling ... not bad for a car ostensibly limited to 155.
The VMAX runs at Bruntingthorpe proving ground give you the chance to drive your car a full chat down an airstrip with a timing device at the end of the runway that records your speed.
Needless to say, I was there early in the 520i, and only a few cars were there when I arrived, including an Ultima GTR, a 928 and a 911 Turbo. However, during the course of the day, I shared runway with a Ferrari 360 and a 430, a Bentley Continental GT, a convertible Lambroghini Gallardo, an XKR, RS4's, 911 GT2's, M3's and CSL's, a Z4MC, an AMG CL63, a Ruf Cayenne Turbo, an M6, an Alpina B5, more 911 Turbos than you could shake a stick at, Z06 Corvettes, etc., etc. Unfortunately, even though I managed to remember my camera, my camera batteries were flat. :fightwall:
Anyway, it was a fantastic day, well organised and great fun. The Continental was surprisingly quick, as were the RS4's. The AMG was incredible: when he pulled off he was pushing so much torque the car just stood there shredding its tyres! The Alpina B5 just reeled off lap after lap in the 185-190 range! The Ultima sounded awesome. The GT2s are amazing cars, easily the quickest there, running at about 190MPH. Just before I left, a Spaniard pitched up with a Ruf 9ff cabriolet. He went out and blitzed the whole show at 202MPH on his first lap ... WITH HIS ROOF DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :drool:
I managed a very creditable 160MPH and I think if there was a bit more runway I could probably have made 165 because the car was still pulling quite strongly with 750RPM left in 5th gear. But I was very happy with 160, and I was even more happy with the ease and consistency of the 520i's performance; while other cars may have been quicker, they were forever fiddling about with their cars, I just got in and did run after run in the 155-160 range. My best run with all the junk in the car and 2 passengers was 156 and still pulling ... not bad for a car ostensibly limited to 155.
Too bad about the camera... 