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BMW's Super Saloon recipe has come a long way since the original E28 M5
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In this series we'll be visiting four very different circuits in the UK, all of them Evo
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favourites and home to our track day and evening events. Should be fun, so let's get cracking
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the goodwood motor circuit is best known for playing host to the excellent goodwood revival
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meeting but it's also one of the uk's fastest and just plain best driver's circuits it's also a tiny
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bit scary in places is Goodwood, mainly because of the speeds you reach before, during and after
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the various twisty bits. But in a car like this M5 competition and in the right settings, it should
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be a whole heap of fun. Only one thing for it then. Let's find out. But before you go anywhere
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near a circuit like Goodwood, you need to work out what those settings might be. And to do that
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you need to take a deep dive into the car's M menu and see what's available to you
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Because as you can see, there are an awful lot of toys to play with
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including a full launch control system, which can fire the M5 Competition to 62 miles an hour
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in just 3.3 seconds. I do love Goodwood It really is a proper track It so fast in places in fact it so fast everywhere except for the chicane But we come to the circuit in a minute I just going to
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explain exactly what settings I've put the car in. It's not raining but it's really greasy
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it's not that warm today. So I've got the engine in Sport Plus, I've got the transmission in S3
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which are the two most aggressive settings that you can select. That's fine, that's where I want the car
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I want the throttle nice and snappy. Of the three options with the chassis
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which is basically super stiff, stiff or chilled for the road, I'm actually in stiff, which is sport, rather than sport plus
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I've done a few trial laps, and by selecting sport rather than sport plus
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it just puts the dampers in a slightly softer setting and the rear end in particular is just that much calmer
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and isn't trying to light up too much and engage the rear diff too aggressively
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over the very small but very greasy bumps that there are a good with today
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I'm playing around with the DSC setting. I've tried it with it on
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i've tried it with it off completely and in two-wheel drive and that's hilarious but you
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don't go anywhere and it is a bit hairy today so i'm in four-wheel drive sport
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with the m differential engaged i think that's the best set well it is definitely the best
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setting for today i think it's the best setting for all track work to be honest because it's just
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it just gives you that little extra safety net if you make a mistake or if it feels like it getting away from you which two tons worth of or nearly two tons worth of m5 does feel like it can do quite easily around here today I have to admit But with all those settings established you can not throw it off like that
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I think, actually, if I'd had everything switched off then, I might well have had a little trip into the grass
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That's how good these electronics are. I'm really not joking there. As you can see, Goodwood is quite some track to get your head round
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especially in conditions such as these, and in a car as potent as the M5 competition
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The key is not to get too carried away to begin with, and to build your confidence gradually
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Because if you attack it without first working out the various nuances
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Goodwood will bite you. So let's talk about the lap itself. This is Madwick. There's a nasty little bump in the middle of Madwick
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So you just need to be very careful of it and late apex it. The second apex going out onto this straight here is the one that you want to get absolutely right
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And then you come down to Ford Water, which is frankly terrifying because it's one of those is it flat, isn't it flat in fifth corners
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Today, not for me, it's not flat. But it's still very, very quick
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under brakes into the right hander at St Mary's. You want to carry as much speed into here as possible
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and then take it all off on the way into St Mary's itself
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which is very slippery today. It's always really slippery, this corner, when it's wet, as you can see
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Then down to Levant, braking a straight line. Again, the surface at Levant is always really, really slippery for some reason
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as you can see. and then it just a matter of winding the power as much power on as you possibly can without upsetting it all and then down the home straight back towards the pit complex
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Going flat through that kink at 135mph does feel quite sporty, quite entertaining, quite engaging
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But this M5 competition is just so rapid in a straight line
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Anyway, down to Woodcourt, brake early, I think, and it's all about the second apex
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I'm getting it as neat as possible on the way out up to the chicane. Through the chicane, I'm in second gear
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And that is a lap of a very, very greasy Goodwood motor circuit
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in a 625 horsepower M5 competition. You really need to manage what you do with the throttle
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even with the electronics helping you out. Goodwood might not look much on paper
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but it really is one of the great circuits and it is not an easy one to master
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Doing so requires patience, confidence, a reasonable amount of skill and a well set up car
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Fortunately though the box of toys the M5 competition possesses is pretty incredible
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and so long as you spend some time working out which are the best ones to use
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you'll be just fine even in conditions like this in fact you'll have a ball
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so see you next time at the Bedford Autodrome a very different kind of racetrack
