PURE JOY ON FOUR WHEELS
FIRST DRIVE: 2016 BMW M2,
• Well, that was fun! Jumping into most new cars for the first time usually takes minimal adjustment, j ust a quick glance to acclimatize where everything i s, especially the important controls that make it go, stop and stay on the road. Things become a little more intimidating when the car is the muchhyped and assuredly highperformance BMW M2, and your first introduction to it is at the iconic and technical Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca racetrack.
No first date, no getting to know it better — just strap yourself in, put it in Sport+ mode and wham, bam, get on the throttle, trying not to lose the guy in the pace car ahead. Oh, make that “woman” — yes, the pace car driver is Claudia Hürtgen, chief instructor of BMW’s Group Driving Experience. Heck, no pressure there. I can keep up!
Fortunately, Hürtgen modified her s peed to match the two cars behind her, scribing perfect lines through the track’s 11 turns, including the in famous Corkscrew, making it easier for us to get familiar with the corners and better enjoy the experience.
And that experience is fantastic! The M2, the newest BMW to wear the coveted M badge, is all business when it comes to track duties. Ripped muscle in compact form, the two- door coupe’ s 3.0- litre, turbocharged in-line six generates a potent 365 horsepower, sending it to the rear wheels through either a six- speed manual transmission or optional M Double Clutch Transmission ( M DCT). The Long Beach Blue model I’ve jumped into has the latter.
Talk about a car meant for track- day hooliganism. It’s the real deal, with big brakes, a taut suspension and bags of torque, blasting out of tight corners with a controlled rush. Ah yes, the torque — a full 343 poundfeet on tap between 1,400 and 5,560 r. p. m., with an overboost function raising it a further 26 lb.-ft. to 369 lb.ft. between 1,450 and 4,750 r.p.m. Put in perspective, this figure is some 70 lb.-ft. more than the previous M3.
Admittedly, I can’t do the M2 the justice it deserves, though it doesn’t stop me from stepping out of the car with an ear- to- ear grin. In the hands of Bill Auberlen, though, the M2 is a scalpel and he’s the surgeon. He is a factory race driver often associated with BMW and helped pilot an M6 GTLM to a fifth-place class finish at the recent 24 Hours of Daytona. I sit in the shotgun seat and hang on as the coupe obeys his every command without a hint of complaint. Up the pit straight, we hit 195 km/ h, a noteworthy speed on that circuit for a horsepower- middleweight production car.
Naturally, you want to know how quickly it accelerates. According to BMW, the M2 with the M DCT and Launch Control activated will zip to 100 km/ h in 4.3 seconds, 4.5 with the sixspeed manual gearbox.
For the purists out there, though, the six-speed manual is the definition of boltaction precision. An engagement-speed control function blips the throttle on downshifts and lowers engine revs on upshifts. This makes gear changes creamy smooth. ( For track heroes practised in the art of the perfectly co- ordinated downshift, the function can be disengaged in DSC Off mode.)
Unlike its bigger siblings, the M3 and M4, which have been criticized for being overpriced, mechanically ( overly) complex and somewhat less than “the ultimate driving machines” of previous generations, the M2 is lean and mean, priced at $ 61,000 to start, and not overburdened with a large option list or overt luxury. The cabin has the requisite niceties and the dash area is clean and logically laid out. Rear- seat room is — as should be expected considering the car’s compact nature — meant for those of smaller stature.
The engineering technology that makes the M2 such a track weapon doesn’t quite translate as well when the coupe is pressed into regular workaday duties. More specifically, it is a stiff- riding machine. We took the manual transmission version for a jaunt down Highway 1 toward Big Sur, a well- maintained stretch, mostly free of potholes but with occasional tar strips. We could feel every strip we crossed over, every change in the surface aggregate, every minute undulation, with considerable r oad noise emanating from the wide Michelin Pilot Super Sport rubber ( P245/ 35ZR19 up front and P265/ 35ZR19 at the rear). It does give one pause to think about how the BMW will fare on our winter- ravaged streets, though I suspect most drivers will accept the ride as the price paid for high performance.
BMW claims the M2 contains “stylistic references” to the brand’s classic sport coupes, namely the 2002 turbo and 3.0 CSL. Frankly, I don’t see it, though I appreciate the thought process. The M2 isn’t a beauty, though it is decidedly bulked up and more than a little intimidating. The characteristic Mdesign features are all there: signature kidney grille, large front apron with trapezoidal blades and air curtains in the outer air intakes.
Building on the success of the 1 Series M Coupe, the M2 both furthers and restores BMW’s reputation in the high- performance sporty car segment. It’s the sort of car that will gladden the hearts of Bimmerphiles waiting these many years for a worthy successor to the original E30 M3. And it will set benchmarks other manufacturers will find hard to match, never mind exceed.