Within the early 2000s, BMW Forschung und Technik GmbH—the corporate’s devoted analysis and innovation division—was engaged on a challenge that actually broke the mildew. In contrast to the groups targeted on refining subsequent yr’s manufacturing fashions, this group was all about exploring daring new concepts that would redefine the driving expertise sooner or later.
Considered one of their most fascinating experiments was the Drive Stick Automobile, based mostly on the second-generation E46 BMW 3 Collection Compact. At first look, it appeared like some other 3 Collection from the period. However the second you opened the door, you could possibly see it was one thing utterly totally different. Gone have been the steering wheel, accelerator, and brake pedals—staples of each automobile for many years. Of their place have been two vertical management levers known as Drive Sticks, positioned on both facet of the motive force’s seat.
Joystick Driving
The best way the Drive Sticks labored was surprisingly intuitive. To speed up, you pushed each levers ahead. To brake, you pulled them again. Steering was so simple as tilting the levers to the left or proper. Gear shifts? These have been dealt with by buttons constructed proper into the levers themselves. All of this was powered by drive-by-wire expertise which meant there have been no mechanical connections—simply digital alerts controlling the automobile’s methods.
With out a steering wheel or pedals, the inside felt like a very totally different area. The footwell was open, giving the motive force extra room, and the dashboard was cleaner and extra fashionable. A display within the heart console changed the standard rearview mirror, and the seats have been reconfigured to make getting out and in of the automobile simpler and extra comfy. It felt much less like moving into a conventional automobile and extra like getting into a cutting-edge cockpit.
One distinctive characteristic was the power for the passenger to take management if wanted. In an emergency, they might seize the opposite Drive Stick and drive the automobile. It was a intelligent solution to make driving safer and extra adaptable, particularly in conditions the place a driver may need assistance.
Sci-Fi, However Not Actually
For BMW fans, this may all sound like one thing from a science fiction film. And in a approach, it was. The Drive Stick Automobile wasn’t designed to switch the standard driving expertise that BMW is thought for—it was extra of a query: “What if we began from scratch?” The insights from this challenge ended up shaping applied sciences we now take as a right, like electromechanical energy steering and lively steering. These methods introduced new ranges of precision and management to the street whereas preserving the unmistakable BMW driving really feel.
Whereas the Drive Stick Automobile by no means made it to manufacturing, it stays one among BMW’s most intriguing experiments. It’s a testomony to the BMW’s willingness to discover radical concepts and take dangers within the identify of innovation. It’s additionally attention-grabbing that 25 years later, BMW and different corporations are engaged on comparable ideas inside the true of autonomous driving, so that you gotta give BMW engineers credit score for foreseeing the longer term.
