Typically, when an automaker wants to show off one of its new high performance machines, they’ll hire a professional driver to wheel the car around a track and do some photogenic slides for the camera. With BMW’s new 235i, it seems like the driver might not even be necessary. In a display of its autonomous driving technology for CES in Vegas, BMW has managed to get the 235i to drift itself completely on its own – which can be seen in the video above.
On one hand, this isn’t unexpected given the amount of technology that manufacturers are packing into automobiles these days. On the other hand, drifting seems like one of the last ‘human’ elements of driving a high performance car – the thing you do when you turn all the electronic nannies off.
In the future, will you ride up in a new car, pull out a smartphone and command it to put on a drift exhibition for your buddies while you all sit and watch? It does sound interesting but I’m not sure if we’re ready for that yet. I’m curious to hear what you guys think about self-drifting cars and autonomous performance machines in general.
Mike Garrett
Instagram: speedhunters_mike
mike@speedhunters.com
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