A week or so back Brian wrote about cruising down to Virginia in a 2014 Cadillac XTS-V Sport with adaptive cruise control. (Read about it HERE)
In the blog item he marveled at the fact that the car was able to start and stop in varying traffic conditions without driver intervention, and by “marveled” I mean that he would not stop talking about it: Countless Facebook posts, text messages, and tweets were made over a $70,000+ vehicle’s ability to not hit an object directly in front of it.
If cruise control was enough to get Brian raving like a lunatic about SkyNet and the looming Technological Singularity, this video is going to have him packing up the kids and running for his Top Secret bomb shelter within the hour.
Quite simply, this is a BMW M235i that not only starts and stops by itself, it can steer as well, and by “steer” I mean slalom at 45 MPH and drift around a race track while the loafer-wearing “driver” sits as calmly as a sedated hospital patient and watches on HAL 9000 has all of the fun.
Cool from a pure technology sense? Yes. Terrifying to watch as someone who enjoys driving? More than I can put into words.
CLICK BELOW TO WATCH A BMW M235i DRIFT ITSELF!
yeah…..uh, if its such a brilliant system what’s the meat bag doing sitting behind the steering wheel? sure, I get that his hands are off the wheel etc but honestly why is he there? I’d say he’s the fallback for if it all goes wrong – if they actually trusted their system they’d let the car go thru its paces by itself…
Kill it with fire it makez me sick
I don’t get it! These autonomous cars are supposed to be FUN? Not my cup of tea.
Hell, I can’t stand a car that shifts itself let alone a car that drives itself.