The British Top Gear magazine has just published a new review of the 2016 BMW M2. The first review came from Laguna Seca back in February when the Brits tested an M2 with the 7-Speed DCT, but now, they took the reigns of an M2 with the six-speed manual transmission.
The new baby-M has received many accolades from journalists and customers from around the world, and it is widely considered one of the best, compact sports cars you can buy today. As we’ve experienced twice now – once on track at Laguna Seca and second time recently in Chicago – the BMW M2’s 3.0 liter turbocharged inline-six engine is a thing of joy. It’s an engine that sounds better than the M3’s, is more soulful than the M3’s and more likable as well, despite being considerably less powerful.
The BMW M2 driver will know that when corners come up, regardless of which car is faster, they’ll be having the better time with the bigger smile on their face. That’s what matters most to the M2 and that’s why everyone loves it so much.
So it comes with no surprise that Top Gear tried to answer a similar question: M2 or M3? Manual or M DCT twin clutch?
Here is an excerpt from their review:
Given a straight choice, the M3, but fronting up my own money, then the M2. The M3 feels a fraction more special to drive and the engine is sharper and more eager to rev. But the M2 has the better front end turn-in and steering response. That’s the highlight for me, actually – the way you turn the wheel with your wrists and feel the tyres respond by getting on their shoulders and knuckling down to work. You sense the whole car instantly hunch to the task and you know, even at modest speeds, precisely what the car is up to and how much it has in reserve.
Open the throttle mid-corner and where the M3 can become a handful, the M2’s differential has been better set-up, so it’s more progressive when it starts to break away.
So it’s a fun car, then?
It is, genuinely eager to please, a bit of a show-off and tremendously engaging. It looks ace, it’s a good size, I’d have it over an A45 or Audi RS3 in a heartbeat and reckon it would press the newly-turbocharged Porsche Cayman very hard.
In approach and demeanour it has more in common with the Focus RS than any of those, actually. We strapped the test gear to one of those recently too – 4.7secs for 0-60mph, but 11.3 to hit 100mph – over a second and a half slower than the M2 (although that was an M DCT version). Trouble with the Ford is its weight – it’s 1600kg.
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