… BMW M2 …
The difference between a motorist and an enthusiast can be measured in decibels. A motorist likes to travel in silence, smug in the knowledge that his/her car has been engineered by skilled and caring professionals who strive for the mechanical silky silence of automotive perfection. Whereas the enthusiast wants to hear the meshing of oil slicked metal on metal and the tuneful beat of exhaust valves dumping their contents through an open stack.
In fact, there’s nothing to beat the exhaustipated staccato of a big capacity V8, or maybe there is. Thank goodness for BMW and it’s allegiance to the straight six. If anything can match the melodic excesses of the V8 then it has to be the smooth and sublime tenor of a straight six belting out its sonorous soundtrack to an appreciative audience.
Such a wondrous noise could make an ugly car appealing and an ill-handling pig desirable. Trouble is, the M2 Coupe is neither. It’s low wide and aggressive grille with pop-star sized rump hiding huge wheels under bulbous arches is matched by a taut handling sophisticate of a power house.
The figures don’t do it justice. The ‘twinscroll’ turbo 3 litre unit pumps out 365 bhp and will rev to 7000 rpm – easily and very quickly. In fact, the engine feels as though it could keep on going, but it wasn’t my car! It also generates 465 Nm of torque which helps it get off the line and hit 60 mph from rest in little over 4 seconds. And there’s more. It has an overboost function which raises the torque figure by 35 Nm to 500 Nm between 1,450 and 4,750rpm.
As I said the figures don’t do it justice, but the suspension does. The linear power delivery is so smooth and the accelerator response so precise that the car can just about be driven on the throttle. Ride is firm, but not rock-hard, and the steering finesse is sublime. This is a car that works with a good driver, just as easily as it could punish a bad driver.
It s both rewarding and satisfying to drive quickly, but oddly enough, it can be a docile beastie when it needs. Keep the revs to 3000 rpm and it’s as smooth as silk tootling about town but give it a prod in the wilderness and it responds like a thoroughbred scenting a hot mare.
For instance, there is a roundabout in an unfinished industrial estate nearby which has numerous tell-tale black circles round it. Not entirely my doing you understand, but the ideal location to check out power and control. There are now two new complete black circles round it. The feel and the feedback is quite simply breathtaking.
It’s relatively easy to unstick the 265/35 by 19 inch rears (245/35 on the front) and use the Active M Differential to transmit power controllably aided by the electrically power-assisted steering system. This features an integrated Servotronic function with M-specific characteristics that vary with road speed. There are two settings – COMFORT and SPORT/SPORT+ which allow drivers to adjust the steering’s power assistance at any time. This is what the ‘M’ badge is all about.
Brakes? Yes, it has brakes, and they work, no more needs be said really. The perforated discs are gripped by four pot callipers at the front and two pots at the rear and they do it in quite unremarkable but inspiring fashion.
BMW hasn’t forgotten about the interior either. The black Dakota leather Sport seats have adjustable side bolsters and an M footrest and kneepad on the centre console for the driver which enhances the feeling and driving experience.
Although limited to 155 mph, the speedometer scale goes up to 186 mph while the rev counter dial shows an upper limit of 8,000 rpm, although red-lined at 7. Pity that.
Creature comforts include SatNav and BMW’s ConnectedDrive system which can add the ‘GoPro’ video app and M Laptimer app from BMW M GmbH. Access to e-mail, weather information, news and on-line entertainment is also possible via the car’s integrated SIM card ensuring that the car appeals to the practical and professional amongst us.
Such precision comes at a price, naturally. All of this can be yours for upwards of £44,000, but you can (almost) justify it by telling your partner that it can return in excess of 35 mpg. The emphasis is on the word ‘can’ here!
Would I have one? Undoubtedly. In fact, I think I’d buy it just for the noise!