"The first time I saw it, I knew I had to have it."

... a rather graphic display of the motor sport phenomenon called drifting. Originating in Japan over a decade ago, drifting was first practiced illegally on treacherous mountain roads. The drifter's goal was, and is, to put the car into controlled slides, maintaining speed and angle of attack through the curves. Unlike races, drifting competitions are judged events, and winning takes a combination of speed, angle and excitement. With the addition of synchronized tandem or "battle" drifting -- the main event at Laguna Seca -- the stakes, and risks, increase sharply.

"At any point you can crash," he said. "There's a big risk, and that's the biggest thrill of it."

Praxis Advanced Suspensions will allow the driver to control performance with the push of a button.

By replacing the springs and shocks with air struts and adding a small computer and an air compressor, Bridgestone says its new Praxis system will let you ride comfortably to the track.

The new 6 Series coupe from BMW will be unveiled in September at the Frankfurt Motor Show and will go on sale in the United States in spring 2004.

"I hope you're not taking a car with a stick shift on vacation." ... "No, It's a new M3 convertible, and there's no clutch."

Technically, I was fibbing. The M3 SMG has a manual transmission and a clutch, although there is no clutch pedal.

This highly sophisticated gearbox should not be confused with the many variations on the Tiptronic theme.

No, BMW's SMG (for sequential manual gearbox) is similar to the Magneti Marelli system used in Ferraris, Maseratis and the Aston Martin Vanquish. But BMW's version has a twist: a Drivelogic button below the shifter lets you select how quick you want the shifts to be, from leisurely to rocket racer (as fast as eight one-hundredths of a second).

At first I found myself missing the clutch pedal, but after rolling up some miles and experimenting with the six available shift programs, I became a convert.