BMW's New Wind Tunnel Plus Model Equals Nice Video

Featuring Sylvie van der Vaart

By Michael Gauthier
October 29, 2009 10:53 PM
Filed Under: Babes, BMW, German

What do models and wind tunnels have in common? We don't know, but it's hard to argue with BMW's latest press stunt.

The company decided to sex up their new wind tunnel by inviting Sylvie van der Vaart to drop by for a photo shoot. Officially called a "hairdo experiment", Sylvie started out by wearing "an eighties-style Bordeaux-colored dress" which echoed the 1987 BMW 3 Series Convertible she was sitting in. Later, she changed into "an elegant beige-colored trouser suit" and got behind the wheel of a 2009 3 Series Convertible.

As you can imagine, the aerodynamic and air turbulence differences between the two cars were pretty obvious. According to van der Vaart, "What a difference from the older model! I couldn't feel the wind at all (in the 2009 model) - I even had to check to see if they'd even turned it on."

Source: BMW

Press Release (Click to expand)

Hairdo test in the new BMW wind tunnel.

The new BMW wind tunnel in the north of Munich:

a place that can even surprise the much-travelled Sylvie van der Vaart.

She sits in a 1987 open-top BMW 3 Series Convertible, authentically dressed in an eighties-style Bordeaux-coloured dress, her hair down and put into perfect shape by a hair specialist. She is slightly nervous before the "test drive": "I'm a little on edge because I'm not sure exactly what's going to happen with all this wind. But BMW has assured me that it's all safe." The huge rotor of the wind tunnel slowly starts to turn, from the control centre you can see a gentle breath of air slowly but surely developing into a stiff breeze at 60 km/h. After this windy test drive, the result is clear: the hairstylist on the set is not too happy since the only thing the tousled mane of model and TV presenter Sylvie van der Vaart would be good for is an eighties music video.

The outfit and hair are restyled and we shoot forward into the year 2009: a current 3 Series Convertible now gleams in the light of the wind tunnel. Sylvie van der Vaart appears with a business look - an elegant beige-coloured trouser suit. She smiles into the camera and waxes lyrical about open-top driving in Madrid, where she lives. "Open-top motoring is just the thing for me!" says the 31-year-old. Waiting at the wheel in the wind tunnel, she once again waits in suspense for the next test run as the huge rotors start to move. The improved aerodynamics of the vehicle with reduced air turbulence in the interior is clearly visible to all those on the set. The long, straight hairstyle hardly moves a millimetre. Sylvie van der Vaart smiles as she steps out of the car: "What a difference from the older model! I couldn't feel the wind at all - I even had to check to see if they'd even turned it on."

Shortly after the shoot in Munich, van de Vaart was diagnosed with cancer at an early stage and successfully treated. She quickly started working again - both in the photo studio and on television. "Discipline is very important in my line of work," she says. She quickly got used to wearing a wig, too - and continues to drive open top.

The hairdo experiment illustrates 22 years of progress in automobile development. Facilities such as the new Aerodynamic Test Centre enable engineers of the BMW Group to improve aerodynamics at an early stage of the development process so as to make a contribution to increasingly efficient vehicles. In addition to lightweight construction and drivetrain, aerodynamics has a key role to play in automobiles of the future. Sophisticated aerodynamics is one of the key variables in the BMW Groups EfficientDynamics approach. BMW is a forerunner within the entire automotive industry in terms of the reduction of CO2 emissions. In the EU, the BMW Group's new car fleet of 2008 has an average CO2 emission level of 156 grams per kilometre - well below that of other premium manufacturers.

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Tags: Sylvie van der Vaart, BMW Aerodynamic Research Center, BMW wind tunnel, 1987 BMW 3 Series Convertible

Comments

AdigA

October 29, 2009 11:05 PM

sexy !

is THe E30 :)

cornflakes99

October 29, 2009 11:21 PM

What are BMW doing! The current management don't seem to have any product direction, We'll stick M-Badges on fat tanks completely devaluing the M-division, we'll cancel CSL model M3's, We'll quit F1 after just one average season, and instead we'll build blue whale sized 5 series GT's that are solutions to problems that don't exist & dick around in wind tunnels!

bcuth

October 30, 2009 12:24 AM

Do you work for Mercedes?

MTC

October 30, 2009 12:42 AM

I agree with you, cornflakes

dbehmoaras

October 30, 2009 12:54 AM

I'm sorry if the M3 and M5 is not good enough for someone who has never even driven either.

X6M

October 30, 2009 12:56 AM

CSL is too expensive, F1 is wasted time, and 5 GT is better than the current 5 series station wagon! What ARE they doing? - Cutting down the expenses(CSL) and trying to earn more money(5GT).

Edited by user on October 30, 2009 at 1:06 AM

mn07

October 30, 2009 1:12 AM

I agree with cornflakes. X6M were do you think new Technologys like direct injection came from??? Wanna guess?? its from F1 this is only one example

Edited by user on October 30, 2009 at 1:15 AM

October 30, 2009 1:52 AM

+1 on cornflakes99. their marketing department also has no proper timeframe. shouldn't a promo like this be done when the cabriolet was introduced? not a couple of years later?

awhk

October 30, 2009 5:05 AM

Totally agree with you conflakes. New BMWs = PIG

cornflakes99

October 30, 2009 2:33 AM

@ bcuth & dbehmoaras

My comment's about BMW are based on concern about the direction the company is heading, I'm a life long BMW fan and owner, The product and marketing decisions made lately seem to go against what BMW principally stand for, and as for the comment about f1 being a "waste of time" i'm sure when Ferrari sale another car off the back of the latest GP victory they must be thinking if only we didn't dick around with this racing nonsence!

M81

October 30, 2009 3:19 AM

I totally agree with conflakes99. Thank you. BMW is heading away from its tradition. In the other hand look at Mercedes-Benz, they extended the AMG series with more trackable aggressive models (Blackseries). I am a huge fan of M cars and I cannot believe the S85 engine the V10 is not used in a model to compete with the R8 V10 or the new SLS AMG!

e36mmm

October 30, 2009 4:34 AM

long time bmw fan and owner as well and im sorry guys but i do have to agree with cornflakes also. They are moving away from tradition to make more money and that is no good sign so far. All upto e60 m5 was great. The only cars i find unnecessary in the range are 5 GT and X6 M. And for all the CSL fans, BMW wouldnt make a CSL for every single new M3. Very rare for them to come up with another and if they did bring it out, how about the sedan? they wouldnt bring it out in sedan version and that wouldnt look right. Too much trouble. All hail the e46 m3 csl :D

Edited by user on October 30, 2009 at 4:35 AM

mpower333

October 30, 2009 8:07 AM

I completely agree! I read yesterday in C and D that BMW may be planning on phasing out the inline 6 in favor of a turbo 4! WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whats left to ruin at that point?

cornflakes99

October 30, 2009 8:43 AM

Let's hope BMW are listening to the fans, and take companies like Jaguar as a warning, in the 50's & 60's jaguar were winning LeMans time after time, building iconic cars like xk150's, E-type's MkII's, which were like the M-cars of the day, then Jaguar decided to quit motorsport and chase sale's by building old-farts cars, result = no one cares, and 30 years of falling sales, then they release the XFR and suddenly people start to take notice again, moral of the story is don't turn your back on that what makes you famous!

Edited by user on October 30, 2009 at 8:58 AM

clash_189

October 30, 2009 10:24 AM

Mostly I agree with you guys, the problem is when ordinary people buy a car and compare the engine performance, they will choose the one with more HP & Nm and it brings turbo as the solution. I was shocked a few years ago when read BMW plan to build 3.0 l twin turbo as I'm a fan for 6 inline engine especially the N52. However, once I drove my father X6 3.5, I felt it was better than one in my X5 4.4 V8, turbo gives punchy power earlier than normally aspired. Moreover, if you don't like X6M or 5 GT, just sell them into Asia where we need fast car but with higher ground clearance to adapt with our rural road. As the matter of BMW's plan to quit F1, it actually doesn't have enough reason as they even mentioned that they used less money to invest here than when they were engine supplier and it is only their first bad season which many teams also did in the past. I'm also really disappointed with their decision to close 8series plan, BMW needs it as many young executives prefer Passat CC over reg Passat and CLS over E-Class, even in Indonesia most of the 7-series buyers are still around 25-30s years old.

SirTristan

October 30, 2009 4:00 PM

come on silly people. It's about MONEY, not satisfying fans who can't even afford an M car.

This vid is great. What was the 8 series project?

clash_189

October 31, 2009 3:26 AM

The last CS concept was a clue for 8-series.

Moko

October 31, 2009 5:13 PM

blah blah blah, they used to make good cars but still they were incognito if you were not a xcar afficionado, now the Pr aspect kicked up a notch but the products are still top notch and people are still bitching , i mean come on...They can do whatever they wanna do as long as when one enters a bmw car the driving experience is still intact.let them try lol, the gt is actually better than a wagon and drives well, i have no problem with the new m models, shoot nobody cried when porsche or mercedes supped up their suv's...for caca's sake, somebody mentioned Mercedes, have you seen how ridiculous their amg line is, you liked it but you criticize bmw's, come on man, not cool. i agree im mad, they killed the cs concept, i will side with the public opinion, that project needs to be resurrected asap

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