[ad_1]
All is not lost in the world of internal-combustion-engined sports cars, for there are still a few determined automakers offering turbocharged, manual-transmission-fitted cars for our admiration.
The upcoming 2024 BMW M2 will arrive around the first quarter of 2023 and will come with an angry-looking face and an awesome powertrain.
This new M car gets based on the standard BMW 2-Series Coupe, with production of the cars taking place in Mexico.
We peer inside the box of the smaller sibling to the BMW M3 and M4 to see what we will be receiving next year, and look at the highlights of this junior M-car-turned fully-fledged sports car.
The 2024 BMW M2 Is A Fully-Fledged Sports Car
As BMW points out in the press release regarding the upcoming BMW M2, the car features a powertrain and chassis technology borrowed from the bigger BMW M3 and M4.
Under the hood is where the magic of the M2 in contained, it isn’t likely to disappoint as it’s a 3-liter inline-six engine, twin-turbocharged and with 453 hp / 406 lb-ft, basically the same engine that powers the other two cars.
Those power and torque figures are interesting for a couple of reasons; firstly, the horsepower figure is only 20 hp down on the BMW M3/M4, while the torque is the same.
Secondly, the M2 will be lighter than those cars, so it should have similar performance in a smaller, agile package.
BMW’s own website quotes a 0-60 mph time of 4.1-seconds, the same time as its bigger siblings, all times are taken with the 6-speed manual transmission, too, while the optional 8-speed M Sport automatic transmission can manage a 3.9-second dash.
Apparently, the engine in the M2 ‘outguns’ the one used in the previous generation by some 90 hp, which sounds like good news.
Under The BMW M2’s Bold Styling Lives An Awesome Chassis
That manual transmission option is sure to keep the diehards and purists happy and power goes to the rear wheels, meaning that the BMW M2 is a proper archetypal sports car and something approaching unicorn status in today’s automatic, hybridized and electrified age.
The car will have a near-50:50 weight distribution and according to BMW the “car’s agility, dynamism and precision also gain from the excellent torsional stiffness of the body structure and chassis mountings helped by bespoke bracing”.
BMW continues in the release: “Both the double-joint spring strut front axle and the five-link rear axle come with M-specific kinematics… …the new BMW M2 includes adaptive M suspension with electronically controlled dampers, M Servotronic steering with variable ratio, DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) including M Dynamic Mode, and powerful M Compound brakes with six-piston, fixed-caliper-brakes at the front and single-piston, floating-caliper brakes at the rear.”
It’s safe to say that the car will be as good as the last M-powered 2-Series and perhaps just as punishing on a road with potholes, speed bumps and bridge expansion-gaps.
BMW’s Awesome Design For The 2024 BMW M2
One of the first things you notice in the photos or renders of the upcoming BMW M2 is the bold styling, devoid of the BMW M3/M4’s beaver-like grille and aggressive-looking.
As Road And Track pointed out, it’s not a classically beautiful car but the design works, even if it is a perhaps a little over-styled.
If the BMW M4 is a two-door coupe version of the M3, this car is a junior M4 – its small footprint and short wheelbase make it look like a real sports car coupe.
BMW says that the M2 will be “214 millimeters less in exterior length than the BMW M4 Coupé models and has a 110-millimeter shorter wheelbase.
The large, frameless BMW kidney grille with its horizontal bars combines with a three-section lower air intake with almost rectangular contours to give the front end of the car a familiar M look. The design (gets) crafted around technical requirements in terms of cooling air supply and aerodynamic balance”.
Up back, the quad-exhausts look menacing, and the rear trunk and lip are tightly sculpted which results in a sporty and agile-looking coupe shape, and you can have the car in one of two exclusive shades: Zandvoort Blue solid and Toronto Red metallic.
Inside The 2024 BMW M2’s Sporty Cabin
In corporate-speak, the BMW M2 features an ‘advanced sports car cabin’, and with optional M-Carbon sport bucket seats and M-Sport design flourishes it should pair well with the car’s extroverted exterior aesthetic rather well.
A 14.9” curved display takes pride of place on the dash and a smaller 12.3” digital cluster relays critical driving-related information along with ‘shift lights’.
There will be a heads-up display and the system will use the latest version of BMW’s iDrive operating system.
BMW says that the seats feature a model-specific design and “Sensatec/Alcántara surfaces”.
“(The M Carbon bucket seats) use carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) in the structural elements of the seat cushion and backrest and feature cut-outs in the side bolsters and below the head restraints, thereby shaving around 10.8 kilograms (24 lbs) off the vehicle’s weight.
All things being subjective, the cabin of the BMW M2 looks rather well-designed in the photos, in particular the M Carbon bucket seats and splashes of M-Sport color make its interior look like something bespoke and special.
Prices are TBC, but expect a base price of around $60,000-65,000: the current BMW M240i Coupe lists on BMW’s online builder for around $50,000 at the time of writing.
[ad_2]
Source link