Chicagoland BMW Centers are calling all thrill seekers — get ready to experience the evolution of BMW at Autobahn Country Club in Chicago on August 25-27. You can reserve your spot today. BMW’s Ultimate Driving Experience is always a great way for fans to interact with the brand and drive cars they otherwise might not. This year, it’s a bit different, as it focuses also on BMW’s new electric vehicles, which earns it the “Ultimate Driving Experience Evolved” name. However, there are still some great M cars on hand to drive. And the best part about it is that it’s free.
There are three driving events at the Ultimate Driving Experience: Autocross, Lead-Follow, and Street Drives. The latter is pretty self-explanatory, you get to drive the all-new BMW iX on the street, to test out the electric flagship of BMW’s lineup. You can also test a few of BMW’s newest cars (M440i Gran Coupe, M550i, X4 M40i, X5 M50i, and the X7 M50i) on the street.
Of course, the other two experiences are even more interesting. Let’s start with the Autocross event, which is probably the most fun. As with most autocross events, the course is small, tight, and technical and requires precision steering and on-point braking for success. The car you can use in the Autocross event is a BMW i4 M50, which is a lot of fun with its 536 horsepower. Typically, Autocross events are timed and they can get pretty competitive, so fun is guaranteed.
The other event is a lead-follow track session. There quite a few cars to choose from for the lead-follow event, such as the new BMW M3, M4, M5, M8, X4 M, and X5 M. In a lead-follow track session, you follow behind an instructor, who will be on the radio giving you instructions. It’s not only a great way to really push a car safely on track but it also helps make you a better driver, as the instructor will give you turn-by-turn instructions on how to approach each corner. Lead-follow sessions are great for rookie track drivers, as it allows…
