Slide For The Cameras

Oversteer, drifting, skids, slides, steering from the rear. You might think it's the most fun you can have in a car with your clothes on, or you might reckon it ain't big or clever. But what it does do, beyond any doubt, is SELL.

Cover shots of cars sliding sell magazines. Videos of smoking tyres get more YouTube views. And cars which seem to do nothing but slide get cult status. When was the last time you saw a clip of anything with an AMG badge not going sideways?

Or look at the latest rear-wheel drive darling: the Toyota GT86. Its eco-spec Prius tyres are easier to unstick than its Subaru BRZ sister, so it's getting better reviews from the press. Damn right it sells: if oversteer were confectionary, it'd be one hot cake.

Who else has spied car makers picking up on this trend? In 2012, it's no longer about the beauty shots. Manufacturers' own press shots even depict cars going wildly lairy, rather than opting for the cliched, sunset pose on a deserted mountain top road. Want the burnt rubber proof?

The first shot of this article sees McLaren - the 'boring supercar' - showing off the MP4-12C's playful character...

...and not to be outdone, the folding hard-top 12C Spider...

Ferrari have been at it for a while, with the 458 Italia...

And even knocking out a whole video of the ballistic new F12 dancing around on opposite lock. Just listen to that 730bhp V12 melting those Pirellis!

Think it's just new supercars doing gnarly drifts in the official, manufacturer-approved photos? Think again, sunshine.

When BMW released an official photo pack of the UK-spec 1M, guess what it was doing...

And not to be outdone in its brochure material, here's Vauxhall proudly showing off the abilities of the car that was built to do nothing else.

Now strictly, unless it's a D1 Drift Championship machine, cars are not meant to oversteer. They're set up to be pretty neutral, and even the most potent sliders need a bit of provocation from the driver to get bent out of shape.

Showing a car on the slide in your own official pictures is like Carlsberg advertising lager by showing a vomit-stained bloke fighting over a bag of chips with his reflection in a police car window. It's not really the purpose of the product, but it's the naughty potential you know exists underneath, should sir want to indulge oneself.

Sex sells. And oversteer sells. If Ann Summers shoots its next campaign in a BMW M3, I reckon they'll be onto a winner. They love encouraging everyone to burn rubber. Sort of.