As we all know, weight is an important factor when you’re on a race track. Manufacturers are extremely concerned these days about lightweight cars and they are constantly trying to come up with all sorts of creative solutions so that their cars are as light as possible. But what if we just kept everything as simple as possible? What’s the easiest way to lose weight? Just remove useless stuff, right? That’s what this BMW E46 M3 driver experienced, admittedly not on purpose.
The footage below shows us a track-modified BMW E46 M3 that was just minding its own business on the Nurburgring, reaching high velocities when all of a sudden, the car started to feel a lot lighter. The reason for that unexpected feeling was the passenger side door that just decided to say goodbye and left the ‘premises’. The moment it chose to do so could’ve been better though – the BMW was doing around 280 km/h (174 mph).
Furthermore, this whole thing happened exactly after the Bimmer overtook a Porsche 911. Of course, you’d think that some damage must’ve been caused to the poor 911 as a result, but luckily no harm was done as the troublesome door found its way to the outside of the track without colliding with anything. The reaction of the driver is quite priceless as well as he seems to be doing double takes to make sure this really happened.
Well, it did, and while the weight reduction might’ve worked for the car on the track, the drag lacking a door would cause definitely doesn’t make it all worthwhile. It’s a good reminder though to always check the integrity of your car as this sort of thing can happen on a track. Luckily, this time, nobody got hurt but that doesn’t mean repeating this scenario would bring the same result next time.
