2013 BMW M3 DTM

Chris Harris continues to bring us coverage of the unbelievably exclusive test drives of cars that you would think manufacturers would never let the media drive. This time around he does a few hot laps in BMW’s factory backed 2013 DTM M3. Though an M3 in name, the car is actually a full on race car with a carbon tub and an advanced aerodynamics package. These are the same regulations that the Japanese Grand Touring Championship (JGTC) will be adopting for 2014 and Grand-Am racing in the US in 2017. The idea is to keep development costs down by getting more people on the same equipment. As Chris points out, the car is extremely technically advanced, maybe even to a fault. The DTM cars are so capable and aerodynamics dependent that there’s a lot less exciting wheel-to-wheel action during the races. It’s not like the Golden Years of DTM when the race cars were still based on the production cars. That being said, it’s still pretty fascinating to watch Harris try to extract the most from the car on the track.


Source: DRIVE on YouTube

DTM Orchestra

It seems the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) inspires some very talented videographers. This video combines highlights of the 2012 season with the 4th movement of Dvorak’s 9th symphony. It was played at the announcement of the unification of American LeMans and Grand Am racing to become the US version of DTM. The move makes American DTM, European DTM and Japanese JGTC all compete on a the same global racing platform.


Source: GrandAmVids on YouTube

BMW E30 M3 vs. Mercedes-Benz 190E-16 – Motor Trend Head 2 Head

The guys over at Motor Trend are doing a great job with coming up with interesting comparisons for this Head 2 Head series on YouTube. This time they look at the two cars that built the Golden Years of DTM, the German Touring Car Championship. Another signature characteristic of the Head 2 Head series is the excellent review of the details of each car. The reviewers always describe what it’s like to drive the cars for those who will never have the opportunity. This video is no exception.


Source: Motor Trend on YouTube

The Golden Years of DTM

2012 marks the return of BMW to the German Touring Car Championship (DTM). It will be Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW fielding cars this year. I’ll probably put together another post later about the newest generation of DTM cars, but they basically have nothing in common with the road going cars besides the headlights. All three teams will be using the same basic carbon tub as the foundation of their cars for 2012. I felt like that kind of took a lot of the meaning out of what it meant to have the three manufacturers racing each other. Then I was reminded of one of my favorite car videos on the internet. It’s a tribute to what the editor calls “The Golden Years of DTM.” This is back when the race cars were prepped versions of the mass production cars and they still raced on the Nordschleife.


Source: DTMEnthusiast on YouTube