BMW M division’s entry-level performance car gets even more power (but also more bulk) in its latest iteration On sale Summer Price £63,820
Oliver Young Oliver.Young@haymarket.com
ALTHOUGH WINNING AN Oscar must be a euphoric moment in your life, there has to be a point where you ask yourself: what now? Well, one option is to accept that your career has peaked; the other is to make every effort to further your success. The new BMW M2 embodies the latter path; it’s eager to earn even more plaudits than the well-regarded original.
Not only that, but it’s also the final purely combustion-powered car that BMW’s M performance division will ever build. As such, it marks the end of an era, so we’re looking at one highly anticipated sports car. And we’ve been for an early drive – albeit with a twist.
You see, although we physically drove the real, metal M2, we did so not on public roads but on a virtual track digitally mapped out on an airfield in Munich. And this was made possible by a system called M Mixed Reality.
While the track’s surface and corners were real enough, the scenery it was surrounded by was artificial, delivered through a sci-fi-esque virtual reality headset worn in the driving seat. Developed in conjunction with video game developer Epic Games, M Mixed Reality recognises every movement the M2 makes and projects it into a virtual world.
This technology isn’t something that you’re likely to see on sale in its current form, but you might once BMW has improved it so there’s no need for a headset. The resulting augmented-reality car windows could potentially alert you to hazards in the road ahead or make it easier to follow sat-nav instructions. But let’s put this technology aside (especially since it won’t be included on the M2). What’s the car itself like?
The new M2 is larger and heavier than the previous version; in fact, it’s just as wide as the longer M4, resulting in a broader footprint that enhances stability. Meanwhile, a lightweight carbonfibre roof lowers the car’s centre of gravity to help it feel more tied down.
The steering is a particular highlight; it feels precise, consistent and well weighted, so you can place the car accurately and feel confident when tackling corners at speed.
Unlike in the previous version, adaptive suspension is standard, and while the M2 stays impressively flat through corners, we’ll need more time with it to see if there’s a penalty to pay in terms of ride quality.
You need only nudge the accelerator to realise that there’s immense performance potential from the turbocharged 3.0-litre six-c
