When it comes to golf, he is ranked No. 84 in the world. But Brett Quigley’s drive isn’t only on the golf course.

The 38-year-old U.S. golfer has another obsession — cars. As a self-confessed “car nut,” he admits to owning four vehicles. But it’s hard to keep track — he changes them more frequently than his clubs.

His current wheels include an Audi Q7, a Honda Ridgeline and two BMWs, an M3 and an M5. A few months ago, he actually owned four Bimmers, but he just dumped two — a 745 and an X5. “It’s kind of an addiction. It’s my one addiction — I’m not really into anything else, except cars.

“It’s my favourite thing to do after a couple of weeks on the road. I come home and the first thing I do is clean all my cars inside and out and make sure they’re spotless,” he says a few weeks ago, standing in front of a BMW 750i at the Canadian Open at Angus Glen Golf Course in Markham, Ont. As sponsors of the event, BMW lent each golfer a Bimmer for the week.

“Six years ago, I got into an X5 and since then I’ve probably had four X5s. I’d never been a BMW guy, but once I got into the X5, I really loved everything about BMW — the way they drive and the way they ride. And ever since then, I’ve had a few. Right now, I have a 2005 M3 and a 2006 M5.”

He has no plans of parting with the M5 — it’s his favourite of the bunch, even though he’d prefer conventional push buttons for the radio instead of the iDrive system.

“That’s the car I go to the most when I’m home” in West Palm Beach, Fla.

“You can take four people to the golf course, go play golf and treat it like a normal car. But it’s basically a race car in the street, which is great. It’s got a great engine, great sound, and great transmission … .

“The thing I like about it is you can drive the M5 and it doesn’t scream ‘look at me.’ It’s just a very nice car. To a normal person, they’d say it’s just a nice 5-Series. It’s subtle. I have a grey one so it kind of blends in.

“If you have the room, you can drive it like a race car. You can take it on the track and really beat the heck out of the car. The car can take it,” says Quigley, who finished in the top 20 of the PGA Tour money list last year.

Make no mistake, he does let loose — on the track. “I’ve been to about 15 driving schools. I’ve done BMW days in Greenville, [S.C.]. I’ve done a couple three-day schools there with the M3.

“I’ve done a few with my father. We have so much fun. We’re competitive as heck, both on and off the golf course, and it kind of carries over to driving, too.

“They joke at the racetrack — speed is for the speedway and you drive normal on the road. After going to a bunch of the schools, you have a new respect for what the cars can do and certainly you’re a lot more defensive driving on the road, looking out for other people,” Quigley says.

Occasionally, he pushes it on the road, too. “I have been stopped for speeding.

“It’s funny, I got a speeding ticket about two months ago in my pickup. I was doing 78 [miles an hour] in a 65 in Rhode Island. I was actually on my way to the Hartford Open and the guy was a golf fan. It was 5 in the morning and he knew I was going there. He just said, ‘Slow it down a little bit,’ ” says Quigley, who turned professional in 1991.

On the golf course, Quigley perfected his driving skills. “I just grew up around golf, driving golf carts, working at a golf course. I’ve been driving probably since I was 12 — driving equipment, golf carts, tractors and stuff like that.”

But that practice didn’t pay off. “When I was 16, I ran into a fence down a dirt road. We were a bunch of kids just goofing around and we came around a corner too fast and just ran right into a fence.

“The car was an old Buick Regal worth probably 1,000 bucks. And I was actually on the way to a golf tournament and I ran it right into a fence. I popped two tires, smashed the side, and smashed the fence.

“I had to go to the guy’s house and apologize at 6:30 in the morning and pay for the fence. It was a good learning experience.”

Quigley’s first car was a Saab 900 he bought in 1991. As far as his other cars go, there are too many to mention. “You don’t have enough time in the day,” he laughs. “I’m bad like that — I keep it about a year.

“Actually the two BMWs I’ve had for the longest. I’ve had four X5s, a couple of S4 Audis, a bunch of Dodge four-door pickups, and a Honda pickup. It just keeps going on. I won’t get into the other ones,” he says.

Quigley prefers buying over leasing. “I’ve only leased one car in my life. I like buying because, for me, I can get out of it. I’m a little impulsive. If I need to get out of it, I like to have that option. It kills me to think I’ve got to have a car for three years or more at one time. I like being able to change.”

Whatever car he buys, it must have one feature. “Heated seats are the most important thing. I will not buy a car without it. It helps me. It loosens my back up on the way to the golf course,” says the native of Fort Devens, Mass.

Quigley is a bit territorial about some of his cars. His wife, Amy, is allowed to drive them, but prefers not to. “She knows I’m a little crazy about it. She says it’s too much pressure to drive my cars,” says the new father. Amy went into labour with their first child, Lily, in Florida during a practice round at his first Masters Tournament in Augusta in April.

Quigley says he will never buy an exotic car. “I’m not a big Ferrari or Lamborghini guy. I’d be afraid to take it to the grocery store.” Instead, he has his heart set on a new BMW 7-Series Alpina — it’ll be the perfect grocery-getter to add to his garage.

PETRINA GENTILE ZUCCO
From Thursday’s Globe and Mail

– “Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Back Seat,” by Paul Evans and the Curls (1959)

You all probably know some drivers with whom you don’t mind being a passenger. They have a certain confidence in their manner behind the wheel, which inspires the same in you.

They might even drive faster than some of the others within your circle.

So, what is it that makes the better drivers that much better?

I got a clue while being chauffeured from Innsbruck, Austria to Bolzano, Italy recently to attend a press event.

I’d flown all night, and despite a few hours of sleep on the plane, I was still dozing on and off as the driver, a 30-ish woman, ferried me to my destination.

The on-and-off part of that was largely due to the occasional lurch in the older Mercedes every time she changed direction, whether on the autobahn/autostrada, or even in town.

Nothing violent, nothing that would brand her as a terrible driver. Just not smooth.

I looked for clues, and immediately found one: her hands were all over the steering wheel. Turning to the right, even for a lane change, she would slide her right hand up the rim, and tug the wheel down.

Reverse above procedure for a left.

For tighter turns, as in parking lots, she reversed her hand, gripping the rim from the inside to twirl her way in and out.

Again, not smooth, but a continuous series of lurches.

And her hands were in constant motion.

Never in my experience has the superiority of the well-known and often-taught quarter-to-three steering wheel hand position been better illustrated than when contrasted with a bad example.

About 90 per cent of all driving can be done without moving your hands from the 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock positions.

Doesn’t it follow that 90 per cent of the time, your hands should be in these positions? There’s no need to move them at all.

With this approach, most city corners and all freeway manoeuvres can be accomplished with a single sweeping arc one way, with a similar smooth return the other way, back to dead ahead.

Why quarter-to-three rather than the also-common ten-to-two?

At quarter-to-three you know exactly where the wheel is at all times. Your hands are balanced, gravity pulling the weight of both equally, the straight line connecting them exactly level with the hood of the car, and with the horizon.

Also, most steering wheels now have either spokes or at least thumb rests at the quarter-to-three locations, again making this position more stable, more comfortable.

Another problem this woman had was that, uncharacteristic for gender, she sat too far from the wheel. Thus she could not reach the top of the wheel with either hand without lifting her shoulders away from the seat back.

This eliminates the support needed to execute smooth steering action.

What if the turn is tighter than you can do with only 180 degrees of steering wheel rotation?

There are generally two schools of thought here: hand-shuffle, or hand-over-hand.

Most advanced driving schools I have been involved with prefer hand-over-hand.

Once your arms get to the point where they’re locked – usually a few degrees before a half-revolution of the wheel – release the lower hand (the right hand in a right-hand corner, the left in a leftie) and re-grasp the wheel just above the other hand, and continue the steering motion.

When returning to straight ahead, don’t just let go of the wheel; feed it back hand-over-hand until you are dead-straight ahead again.

In most modern cars anyway, one such hand-over-hand manoeuvre will take care of all but the tightest of parking situations.

Hand shuffle, which used to be taught in older British schools when the steering wheels were huge and car steering had no power assist, involves (for a right-hand corner) sliding the right hand up and the left hand down, tugging the wheel down, and repeating as needed.

A lot more confusing, a lot more work, and it’s harder to keep track of exactly where you are; especially in an emergency manoeuvre, you need to know where straight ahead is.

With hand shuffle, that’s tough.

Some drivers have returned to hand-shuffle because they’re afraid of having their arms broken if the steering wheel air bag goes off.

Well, if you’re in a crash severe enough to trigger the air bag, you probably have little or no control of where your arms are anyway.

And if hand-over-hand gives you better control of the car – and I am convinced it does – it reduces the chances of an air-bag-deploying crash happening in the first place, and surely that’s the top priority.

So this is the setup:

Seat adjusted so you can grasp the very top of the wheel with either hand, while keeping the elbow slightly bent, and the shoulders in constant contact with the seat back.

Hands at quarter-to-three at all times, unless in a very tight corner; hand-over-hand if you need more steering lock.

Why not give it a try?

And don’t be surprised if your friends and family start preferring to drive with you.

Jim Kenzie
Toronto Star

BMW Group Designworks USA and Belgian boat company Zeydon have launched the Zeydon Z60, a 60-foot offshore yacht that incorporates much of the design philosophy of the German automaker. Zeydon explains that it was drawn to the BMW subsidiary because of its “strong and distinctive approach toward design.”

The Zeydon Z60 is a kind of design hybrid, which melds the characteristics of testosterone-laden offshore yachts with more sedate luxury cruisers. The two describe the end result as a “luxury sports cruiser.” The interior has a minimalist look with high-quality materials. The Zeydon Z60 is powered by a 110-horsepower Yanmar 4JH4 engine with a full battened mail sail and a 238-gallon fuel tank.

Between five and 10 of the yachts will be produced per year, starting in the second half of this year.

What this means to you: BMW seems like a natural on the high seas.

Source: Inside Line