Auto express on the hill: our Goodwood 2014 rides and drives

This may shock you but the Goodwood festival of speed isn’t isn’t all reclining on freshly mown lawns with a glass of champagne in one hand and a lightly grilled lobster tail in the other. in some cases the car express team had to push the seafood platter to one side, make their excuses to the members of The Saturdays and do some real work. 
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As typical at Britain’s premier petrolhead shindig, our intrepid reporters went best to the heart of the action to get you the most significant and best stories. We’ve been up the well-known Goodwood hill climb in some of the finest automobiles at the festival and here’s where we tell you what they were like…
BMW M4 drive
By Jack Rix
To avoid us spinning across the turf and crashing through the front door of Goodwood house, our BMW co-driver insisted we kept the traction control on – a shame in a automobile famed for its loose back end. but even driving the new M4 coupe well within its capabilities up the Goodwood hill is enough to reveal a depth of character.
Gunning it away from the line and tipping it into the first right-hander it felt aggressive enough for track days, but on the much more sedate drive back down the hill to the paddock the M4’s comfort and refinement shone through – in other words this is a genuine ‘M’ car. Our only grievance is the synthetic exhaust note that’s pumped into the cabin, highlighted by the raw sound of the old racing automobiles firing up in the paddock nearby, but in all other respects it’s an epic machine. 
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