This Arrow Kills Bimmers

Or it frightens them off the track, anyway. See below.

I'm hoping to have an article on the new Performance Data Recorder, or PDR, fitted to 2015 Corvettes up on R&T in the next couple of weeks. But in the meantime, here's a sneak preview of the kind of footage it captures. Yes, it's not exactly HD by today's standards. But it's integrated into the car, it works flawlessly, and it can superimpose performance data onto the video, as you'll see.

Note how fast that M3 is compared to the C7. Part of that was that he could get on the throttle while I was still trying to give the Miata room. But those V8 E90s are no slouch. What he did at the end of the straight is a common error made by trackday drivers with no racing experience. They aren't used to the idea that you need to focus on your braking and watch the traffic at the same time. As a result, they don't have the bandwidth to process both things:

* the Corvette with the MOVE OVER arrow that's been totally winning the HPDE up to that point * the need to brake down from 130mph to about 40 in a compressed space.

Faced with the requirement to process both, the brain reverted to street braking pressure, like you've been doing on your commute your whole life. It wasn't enough.