For his latest video, British journo Chris Harris hops out of the supercars and into a BMW M3 DTM race car.

DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, or German Touring Car Championship) is Germany's national sedan racing series. It features cars that are supposed to look like the ones spectators drive battling it out on road courses. In the 1980s, it was where Germany's best sports sedans--like the E30 BMW M3 and Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 Cosworth--battled it out.

Now, DTM is almost a spec series, with many of the parts standardized. The carbon fiber chassis are purpose built for racing, but decorated to look like individual manufacturers' road cars; it's like a more high-tech version of NASCAR. The current M3 DTM has a 4.0-liter V-8 with 480 horsepower, no electronic driver aids, and massive carbon brakes.

Harris isn't too impressed with the racing, though. He says the cars have too much downforce, which makes passing difficult. Watch Australian V8 Supercars if you want a real spectacle, he says. He has a much higher opinion of the BMW M3 DTM, however.

This particular car is normally driven by defending DTM champion Bruno Spengler, and Harris praised the precision of its construction and the awesome performance of its brakes saying that, the next day, his neck hurt.

For the 2014 season, BMW will restyle its DTM race cars to look like the new M4 coupe, which is set to debut at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show.

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