Striking Oil - BMW Hartge 330d

In his BMW Williams F1 days, Jenson Button was stopped at 140 mph on the French autoroute in an E46 330d. Far from chastening their driver, BMW turned the event into a PR coup, and they probably paid his fine. The E90 is another step forward, it's a frugal sports car, and the sport suspension and window dressing is far from out of place.

Hartge has dropped the Touring by 30mm at the front and 25mm at the rear to provide that aggressive swooping attitude, ably assisted by the deep front splitter that completes what did look like an unfinished car. New anti-roll bars and 9x20-inch front and 10x20-inch rear wheels clothed in Conti SportContact 2 rubber complete the performance mods, and the handling is unbelievable.

This isn't a machine to slide round bends, although turn the traction control off and it will break traction. But, with the Hartge additions, this car will stay sports car stable in bends. If you're carrying fragile gear in the massive rear, like children for instance, they'll never know the g-forces you're inducing. It's a car that feels sensible at quite insane speeds.

Don't bet against the black pump fuelling the sports cars of the future, and don't bet against Audi at Le Mans. You'll lose your money faster than an M5 owner on a hard charge. Anyone still doubting the power of the black pump? You're living in the Dark Ages.

Hartge 330D