BMW has announced the M4 GTS, a souped-up version of the already rapid M4 that promises to be the fastest production car the German manufacturer has ever built.
Just 700 will be built, 30 of which are destined for the UK. That means there will be quite the queue for the M4 GTS, which goes on sale in March 2016 priced from ─ wait for it ─ £120,770. A slight premium on the £57,055 standard M4 Coupe.
All those extra pennies gets you one hell of a lot of willy-waving potential. For starters, BMW lapped the Nurburgring Nordschleife in seven minutes and 28 seconds, making it half a minute quicker than its non-GTS sibling.
This is thanks to an ‘enhanced version’ of the 3.0-litre six-cylinder twin-turbo, which features a very healthy 500hp, 69hp more than the M4, and 600Nm of torque (up from 550Nm). 0-62mph takes 3.8 seconds, while the top speed is limited to 190mph.
Somehow the M4 GTS has a claimed fuel economy figure of 34mpg and CO2 emissions of 199g/km so it could be cheap to run for anyone boring enough to drive it slowly.
Weight saving has been achieved by using carbon fibre bucket seats, a lightweight centre console, rear seat panelling and special lightweight doors and side panel trim, which includes pull loops for shutting them instead of your usual handle. This helps give the M4 GTS a kerb weight of 1,510kg.
BMW has used carbon fibre reinforced plastic for the bonnet, roof and front splitter to further reduce weight, improve axle load distribution and lower the centre of gravity. Basically, it’s going to be expensive if you drive into something.
Those who want even more track-battering extras can opt for the free (yes, free) Clubsport package, which adds an Acid Orange roll cage behind the front seats, race-specification six-point harness and a fire extinguisher.
Meanwhile the Carbon Fibre interior Performance Package, which adds a unique Alcanrata steering wheel with an OLED race display and carbon fibre trim around the DCT Gear Selector, costs £1,900. You can choose between Frozen Dark Metallic, Sapphire Black Metallic and Alpine White paintjobs.
The M4 GTS is one in a line of many special edition M cars, the first of which was the 1988 M3 Evolution and in more recent times the much revered M3 CSL in 2003.
Most of 700 batch will go to the US (43 per cent, to be precise) so probably best to strike quickly if you want one. Special edition Bimmers usually end up going down very well with petrolheads…
Leave a Reply