When it comes to "pocket rocket" performance cars, one doesn't look to far from the BMW M2, as it has everything a motor sport enthusiast would need in a small sized performance sedan/coupe. But when the M2 was released, there was already a lot pressure on it to deliver, following in the footsteps of the much praised 1M was not going to be easy and while it did do a great job, many felt that there was that margin for improvement as you could get the M240i and still have as much fun with it as well. Obviously this got to the engineers in BMW and what that transpired to is the BMW M2 Competition.
Like the M3, M4 and recently announced M5 Competition, the baby in the stable gets a beefed up version of the M Performance variant and boy does it sounds good! The M2 Competition will feature a new six-cylinder in-line engine with M TwinPower Turbo technology based on the power unit from the BMW M3/M4. So essentially they doing what they did with the 1M, giving it the 3L motor from the M3, tweaking it to suit the M2 frame and wheelbase and all this results to 302kW and 500Nm of torque! The claimed 0-100km/h time is 4.2 seconds which is about 0.1 seconds faster than a standard M2 but a buyer of the M2 Competition would know that you're not just buying this car for straight line speed.
The car features high-precision CFRP strut and bulkhead strut for increased front section rigidity, a new cooling system, including new front skirt and larger, redesigned BMW kidney in high-gloss black. The car also has a new dual exhaust system with two electronically controlled flaps to optimise noise on them. The cars true potential lies on the track, where it was made for. In terms of design, it might not look that much distinctive to the normal M2 but subtle differences do make the cars appearance more sporty. Like the front angled scoops which help with aerodynamics as well as air intake for cooling. New multi-spoke Competition rims. The large kidney grilles as mentioned before and a fatter rear diffuser which adds to the cars bulky appearance and gives it a more aggressive look.
The M2 Competition will be available in SA from September this year, no indication on the price yet but be expected to cough out over a million for this one. Is it worth it? Well if you look at the cars it's competing against, the RS3 Sedan comes to mind and the CLA45 which the new one hasn't been released yet, and after this move by BMW you can bank on a CLA45S model coming. But overall, yes, BMW had a good car with the M2, and for those who felt it was lacking, this should be the remedy it needed. The car looks great, figures on paper are great and I'm sure it will be stellar to drive. Love it or hate it, I can guarantee you that order books will be filling up fast for this one.
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