A bunch of us drove to Tasmania last weekend. For those that do not know much about Australia, Tasmania is an island south of mainland Australia. It is known to have one of the best roads and scenic routes over here. The roads are in good condition and mainly windy and damp through dense forests.

It was an amazing trip, 2 days of hard driving through the twisties, climbing mountains and much more. I was also reassuringly amazed at how well my 550i handled in the company of the other cars that were there. We had a good mix: Galardo SE, 997 GT3, NSX, M5, 550i, F355CH, WRX, AUDI 1.8T, Corvette, Jag e-type.

Through the twisties, the 550i drove really really well. The only cars that were ahead of me were the super cars. I spent a lot of time chasing behind the NSX and GT3 in the wet. One of them commented that I must have been working hard to keep the car steady whilst chasing them through the twisties. He was surprised when I told him that the only effort was on concentration as the car really stuck well on the road and the brakes worked flawlessly. Even the AWD Audi had troubles keeping up with me. I had a pax with me through most of the run and he too was surprised how stable the car was through the turns at speed.

I only lost it once, and that was on the last leg of our drive. Turning into a gentle sweeper on a damp road at about 80kmh, I lost my tail as it slid right. Fishtailed the car but it was easy to recover. We pulled over immediately and discovered why I fishtailed....my rear thread were nearly gone! That ended the run for me and we drove the car back to the ferry to take us back to the mainland.

Some comments from the other drivers:
"That car of yours gives my M5 a run for its money" - M5 driver
"How the hell did you manage to keep up with us? You must have been pushing really hard" - 997 GT3 driver
"Your car looks amazing in the rear view mirror, coming out of the corners. And you were really close too!" - NSX driver
"All I could see was this big black mean looking thing in my rear view mirror. I had to give way!" - WRX driver
"Mate, I still hate the look of the 5 series, but boy does she go!" - NSX driver
"For such a big boat, your car handled really well" - WRX pax

I'm now looking at what I can do to the 550i to make it handle better in the turns. Stiffer spring and sway bars? Bigger brakes? Wider tires?

I love my car

Some pics for your enjoyment:

 

Well represented, What type of after market suspension do you have? Just the stock sport?

 

H&Rs

 

Are there speed limits in those parts? And if so how fast were you guys normally going-I would think a pack of cars like that would just scream Copppers!

 

We were well behaved

Besides, in the twisties you wouldnt want to be going to fast, less you wanna see if yer car can fly off a cliff

 

Well of course not outrageous speeds but I know my favorite run which is about 1 hour long, is all twisties in the mountains and do not think I dropped below 80 with some long stretches of 130mph so I am guessing your drive was similar. Just curious because I know that would attract a lot of attention and was wondering if you guys were able to open it up or are cops prety bad in that area. Either way cool run and some nice cars.

I love your rims on your car by the way!

 

Great write up and pics. Thanks much.

 

Great looking car mate and some stunning pictures!

 

Great pics.

 

nice cars and nice write up. thanks for sharing man. looks like fun.