Just back from a couple of days in the Austrian Alps where I’ve been testing the new BMW X3. You can read my write-up in next Wednesday’s Auto Express magazine. Suffice it to say, this MkII car is a world away from the awkwardly styled original and is now a truly impressive baby brother to the larger X5. That aside, we journos drove the new SUV up twisty roads to more than 2000 metres above sea level, where the ski lifts start. It was -10 deg C and there was fresh powered snow. Taking the cars off the road and on to a level area, we had some fun doing timed laps of a cone course (pictured, above). While it’s obviously a hoot to start sliding sideways in the snow without fear of hitting anything, there was a serious point. By turning the car’s various electronic driver aids on and off, it gives a graphic illustration of just how clever these things are nowadays. Systems off, and at the first corner you go into a massive oversteer as the back end slides round too far. Systems on, it doesn’t happen. Simple as that. No fuss, no drama. Also worth a mention are the winter tyres the X3s were riding on. Not snow tyres, but winter tyres, which are just likely regular ones but made from a softer rubber compound and have a slightly different tread pattern. Braking distances are dramatically improved at this time of year and I’ve just reshod my wife’s Ford Focus with some. Find out more at www.whywintertyres.co.uk
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