You know what they say – necessity is the mother of invention. So when BMW just had to grab the Guinness World Record for longest vehicle drift in 8 hours, the Bavarian brand ran into a problem. How exactly do you keep the go juice flowing when you're crossed up for hours on end? Recent rule changes allowed for a quick pit stop and refill, but obviously that cuts down on the time spent spinning the rears. One solution is to put in an enormous gas tank, but that brings with it its own problems, such as a ton of added weight sloshing around. Plus, as Matt Mullins, Chief Instructor at BMW Performance Center, points out, “That's kinda boring, who wants to watch that, right?” Instead, BMW came up with a rather novel solution – the mid-drift fill-up. With a secondary car drifting in tandem with the record-seeking vehicle, plus one very brave soul leaning out the window, BMW sought to recreate military-style aerial refueling, but on the ground.

After modding the fuel system in the primary drift car and outfitting the refueling vehicle with the proper equipment, BMW was ready to go, executing a tandem drift to lock in the fuel nozzle and transfer 15 to 18 gallons in just 50 seconds before disengaging.

All told, the car in question managed to get sideways for an incredible 232.5 miles, trouncing the previous record set in 2014 by a massive 143 miles. Not only that, but the tandem refuel drifts set a second record as well, giving Bimmer another spot the history books with the longest continuous twin-vehicle drift at 49.25 miles.

Congrats BMW! And you didn't even need to use your blinker...

References

BMW M5

Read our full review on the 2018 BMW M5.

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