Look Ma, No Hands: A Self Drifting BMW Sedan

The driving enthusiast of today is well aware of the fact that autonomous cars have a place in the future of automobiles. We’ve already seen cars that can take on the mundane aspects of driving, such as self-parking, lane changing, and highway cruising. These technologies are all well and good, but when a car starts to take over the exciting aspects of driving – well, then we may have to start taking objection.

Anyone who enjoys driving would like to be in control of a vehicle, and would prefer it if the automobile in question simply follows instruction – especially when driving on a racetrack. The last thing we want is for our cars to drive us around a circuit, without any inputs from the driver. If that were the case, we would simply lose all interest in driving. Take, for instance, the latest from BMW – a self-drifting sports sedan!

It’s one thing to have a car drive you down a boring stretch of highway, but when technology takes control of the visceral side of driving – and that too drifting – we have a big problem with that. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, BMW showcased their newest prodigy – a BMW 2 Series that’s taken autonomous driving technology to the next level. What they’ve created is an autonomous self-drifting vehicle. Essentially, this technology uses a GPS system, radar, ultrasound, lasers, and cameras to bring a car back into line during difficult driving conditions. The case study is part of BMW’s ActiveAssist tech, and is currently being tested on the soon-to-be-launched (but, sadly, not in India) M235i Coupe. Research is being done at BMW’s Technik division in Munich, where the company hopes to make cars fully autonomous by the end of the decade.

The technology that this BMW uses makes cruise control seem like a part of the Stone Age, and it features functions that can control (prevent and induce) understeer and oversteer. According to BMW, they have already conducted over 15,000 kilometres of testing, which included a drive from Munich to Nuremberg where the autonomous car drove itself (as you would expect I suppose). If you want to see this technology for yourself, in all its power-sliding glory, you can check out the video on YouTube – just search for ‘M235i drifting itself.’ You’ll see this 2 Series sail through a high-speed slalom, drive around a marked circular course, and even control some rather intense drifts. And while the tech really is astounding, we have to ask ourselves if this truly is what we really want our cars to do for us?