nash

Well, to be fair that's a bit of a stacked comparison (BMW much better as a road car, RS a stronger track car) but the BMW holds its own very well. For real world usage (as in town/city driving), the M car wins out with the torque, better technology, and much more comfortable feel overall (ride/noise/etc). And I certainly wasn't complaining about having a DCT box when we were creeping through some major traffic snarls on the autobahn at times.

At the track, it certainly doesn't have the laser precision of the RS and you don't have the same confidence in the grip (but then, I'd only had a couple days seat time, and the car was on street tires, and it was pouring rain the first day). Once I'd tuned in to the car a little and the conditions improved, I felt really confident in it and was duly impressed. I think it could easily compete as a track car with a 911 (I'm excluding the Turbo/GT cars). You can toss it in to corners with fairly minimal push, the rotation is predictable, and the brakes were great (we had standard brakes with an unknown track pad) - though the car does walk around a bit under extreme braking, standard for most front-engine cars.

The RS wins in the sound department, but I felt the sound of the M cars was really good. Spent a lot of time standing outside the car and hearing them take off or fly by, so this is not synthetic cabin noise. I actually enjoyed the in-cabin noise (which is "enhanced" digitally), but wished it matched the outside noise more.

The RS often elicits a 'holy sh*t' response due to the insane grip, glorious engine and noise, and staggering late-braking capabilities. I'm not sure you'd get the same response in the M car, but you'd also have a car far more suited to daily driving and you'd save $80k.

Bottom line? Keep the RS for track duty and weekend drives, grab an M3 sedan (or M4 coupe if you don't need the doors) for the rest of the week!

Hoopumpers

Great write up Nash. I was a part of this group too and fully concur with the comments. M3/4 makes a great/fun DD!

We did actually see a prototype M2 at the M Studio in Munich. It was a manual and, from what I could see, looked pretty sweet. The air vents behind the front wheels looked fantastic and are a whole new design style for BMW, if they are the finished product. Big question with the M2 is weight...can they keep it down?

Nizer

Not likely. Too many competing agendas. Regardless, M2 should still be the drivers car in the BMW portfolio.

CAlexio

Now that is some interesting info... Did the m2 look widened and squat like the fabulous 1M coupe did? How were the vents shaped, like a vertical slit or more like a stylized one? good wheel design? Anything else you noticed?

GrantG

No, unfortunately not. Rather than having an exclusive chassis, the 2-Series shares the same platform as the 3 and 4 series but slightly shortened, so only very modest weight loss from M4 is possible.

nash

The vent reminded me of a GT-R's front fender, only more straight vertical than the Nissan's. The front fenders were definitely wide, though. Hard to tell the shape of the rear fender and if it was as flared as the 1M. Even up close and personal the mule tape makes it hard to really tell what's going on. The wheels were almost surely not the final product - I didn't even notice what it had on.

dawgdog

I have an M3 in Yas Marina Blue on order and it is being built next week. Will retire the RS from daily driving and have a car I can take on long road trips and not feel guilty I am diminishing its value. It is really a utility vehicle as with 4 doors it can do Costco runs, the dog in an emergency, and easily a set of wheels without destroying my back. Will I track it? Hell yes.

Hoopumpers

The M2 front side vents were vertical and extremely long. They also protruded significantly - basically the width of the flared wheel well to the center body panels. Reminded me of the 918 side vents, but flipped 180 degrees (sit behind the front wheels and go to bottom of the car), if that makes any sense. Photos were strictly prohibited unfortunately

CAlexio

Wow, sounds like a pretty extreme body kit.. Looking fwd to seeing that car

Edit: just found a pic of the body vent... Very very cool

http://m.caranddriver.com/photo-gall...-m2-spied-news

Hoopumpers

Funny. That's the exact car we saw. Nice find!

Nizer

March 2016 tentative production date for US M2.

http://www.2addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1014080

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=901686

redleg321

Chris Harris' review is out now but on Drive Plus which is a paid channel. Great review.

TRAKCAR

Link:

GrantG

No subscription required here:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x22z38w_drive-plus-2015-bmw-m3-chris-harris-on-cars_auto

Nizer

Well I guess he likes it. Too bad he couldn't compare the manual and auto. Would've liked to hear his thoughts.

Mine should be arriving in a few weeks.