Motor Australia – May 2019

12 may 2019 whichcar.com.au/motor

Pace Notes

M FRONTEND.NEWS

5. 20

NEWS / REVIEWS / LATEST TECH / MOTORSPORT

IF ITHAPPENEDTHISMONTH,IT’SINHERE

01

BABY

SPICE!

ULTIMATEM2331kW CSinbound

BMWISSETtounleashthefullpotential

ofitsM2coupewitha powered-up,

kitted-outCSmodel.WiththeF80M

nowretiredanditsF82M4siblingsoon

tofollow,M Divisionhasbeengiven

freereintofullyexploitthemechanicals

installedwiththeintroductionofthe

M2Competition.Thatcarcamewithin

a whiskerofknockingoffthePorsche

911 GT2RSin lastyear’sMOTOR

PerformanceCaroftheYearcontest.

Asyou’dexpect,BMWis keeping

quietonanyofficialconfirmationfor

now,butwell-connectedsourceshave

dishedenoughdirtforustobuildupan

accuratepictureofwhattoexpectfrom

thistyre-shreddingtwin-turbotwo-door.

Accordingtoourbestinformation,the

M2CSwillberevealedin late 2019 and

beproducedforaround 12 monthsas

a lasthurrahforthecurrent-generation

F87M2beforeattentionturnstothe

new2 SeriesCoupe(seebreakout),

tentativelyscheduledtoappearin 2022.

ThespecificationoftheM2CSis

familiarfromtheCompetition,but

thedetailsdiffer.Underthebonnet

is theS553.0-litretwin-turbosix,

butoutputsareexpectedtoswell

toanM4-matching331kWfrom

5550-6500rpmand550Nmfrom

2350-5500rpm.ComparedtotheM

Competition,powerincreasesby29kW

andwhilemaximumtorqueremains

thesame,thepeakextendsbyanother

300rpm.TheM2CSwillbethefinal

homefortheS55,asfuturesix-cylinder

M cars,includingtherecentlyrevealed

X3/X4M andnext-generationM3/M4,

willusethelatestS58engine.

In a coupforhardcoreenthusiasts,a

choiceofseven-speeddual-clutchor

six-speedmanualwillbeoffered,though

whetherBMWAustraliaseesfittooffer

bothtransmissionsremainstobeseen.

ExpecttheCStoshavea coupleof

tenthsofftheCompetition’s0-100km/h

claimsof4.4sec(manual)and4.2sec

(dual-clutch)whiletopspeedwillbe

limitedto250km/h,withthepotential

fora 280km/hV-maxif theM Driver’s

Packageis optioned.

Nomajorchassisupdatesare

requiredastheCompetitionscored

mostoftheM3/M4’sjuicybits,including

a massivecarbonfibreenginebaystrut

brace,forgedaluminiumcontrolarms

andwheelcarriers,balljointsreplacing

rubberbushingsanda rigidlymounted

five-linkrearaxle.

Nonetheless,theadditionofadaptive

dampersshouldbothsoothethe

Competition’srestlessridewhilealso

allowingforgreaterbodycontroland

sharperresponseswiththesportier

drivemodesselected.Apportioning

thepowertotherearwheelswillbe

anelectronicallycontrolledlimited-

slipdifferential,capableofadjusting

betweenzeroand 100 percentlock-up

in just 150 milliseconds.

Wheelsareexpectedtostayat 19

➜

MAIN

M2 CS will ratchet up

the visual aggression

over the Competition,

with body adornments,

new wheels and the

possibility of a carbon

fibre roof

BY • SCOTT NEWMAN + ILLUSTRATIONS • BRENDON WISE