Up next in 10
Yousuf Ashraf tests the latest BMW M2 CS on track to find out whether it can rekindle the magic of the old F-series model, and do its near-six-figure asking price justice.
00:00 Intro
00:48 Why it disappointed
01:59 Can it shine on track?
03:01 Tyres and tech details
03:48 One of the most tail-happy road cars I've driven
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0:00
Last year I drove this, the £92,000 BMW M2 CS
0:05
And it was good but I couldn't figure out why it's so expensive
0:09
It's meant to be the most hardcore focused M2. It looks like a mini touring car but it didn't really get me going
0:15
It didn't feel like a proper Cayman GT4 rival. But that was then, that was on the road
0:19
Today we've got it on a circuit to see if it can change my mind
0:23
This thing is a wild ride. It is pretty damn leery, this car
0:42
And it just wants to spin its tyres the whole time. But let's back it off a little bit, because I need to explain why this car didn't do it for me when I drove it last year on the road
0:58
It was the South of France. It was our car of the year test. I had really high hopes for this thing
1:04
because the last M2 CS, the F-Series car, that was an awesome thing to drive
1:10
It was a car of the year winner and it felt like a proper rival to the Cayman GT4
1:16
Manual gearbox as an option and really kind of pugnacious and leery
1:21
but quite focused at the same time. But I drove this car and it didn quite hit the spot for me It feels about as good as this latest generation M2 gets but it didn feel like it quite
1:36
deserved the CS badge, it didn't feel like a massive step on
1:40
All the details, the steering, the control, the chassis and the extra power, they do make
1:45
a difference, they bring the car to life a bit, but on the road I still wasn't feeling
1:50
that connection to it. So yeah, it's the best M2 there is to drive, but for 90 plus grand, I wasn't convinced
1:59
And here and now, this is the environment where the CS needs to shine, on a track
2:06
This should be where the CS comes to life, where you can really use that performance
2:10
get it moving around a bit. And do you know what? I am really enjoying it
2:15
On a circuit, this thing is a wild ride, because it's 523 horsepower
2:22
and no matter the corner, no matter the gear, no matter the speed, it just wants to slide at the rear
2:30
And there's way more to a car than that, obviously. We're not just looking for a drift king here, but I love how brave they've been with the setup
2:40
If you turn everything off, you really are on your own, and you've got to hustle this thing
2:44
You've got to be absolutely on top of it. Let's try it through here. So that third into fourth and it still spinning up the rears I hope that gives you a sense of just how leery this car is this is one of the most traction limited cars i ever driven on track the cs is rear drive only and this one is
3:10
on michelin ps4s rather than the optional cup twos or cup 2rs which would be a much better match for
3:17
its lower stiffer chassis and massive power the torque of the cs engine is too much for bmw's
3:23
manual gearbox to handle so sadly there's no three pedal option unlike the old car it's a shame but
3:30
the shift in the normal manual m2 isn't actually that great so you're not missing out on much
3:35
the cs is a little lighter than the base m2 but it's still 1700 kilograms which is a hell of a lot
3:42
for a baby m car that doesn't stop it feeling absolutely rapid though now we'd love to time
3:49
this car on a set of Cup 2s and put it on the Evo leaderboard but right now there are a few
3:55
complicated reasons why we can't do that. So this is just about getting a feel for the CS
4:02
seeing if it can change my mind. I tell you what, I know it's on a track and I know that you
4:06
naturally have more fun than you do on the road but I've got a huge smile on my face because this
4:13
is such a challenge. And that's quite rare for a modern car actually
4:19
to feel quite intimidating and demand so much respect. People say modern cars are easy to drive Turn everything off in this and it really not It really not Even if I tried to drive cleanly out of the corner I got to manage it
4:35
If I took this car on a track day, I'd want a bit more security, a bit more bite from
4:41
the tyres, a bit more confidence, because you can't drive sideways everywhere and there
4:46
are certain times when you just want it to put the power down. So Cup 2s, I think, is
4:51
what you need in an M2 CS on circuit. I'm still a bit conflicted by it. I do find myself enjoying
4:58
it a lot here, but is it a Cayman GT4 Rival? Is it as good as that original M2 CS? I don't think
5:06
it is. I think it's just a little bit too big, a little bit too disconnected. It just feels like
5:13
a slightly bigger sports saloon that's been shrunken down rather than a purpose-built
5:18
sports car, to be fair that is what this car is. It's not like a Cayman, it wasn't designed
5:24
as a sports car from the outset but it's still a great car to drive, I'm still absolutely
5:29
loving it. But we need to get one back, we need one on a set of Cup 2s, I want to find
5:35
out how quick it is and what it feels like with just a little bit more grip, particularly
5:41
at the back but that'll have to wait for another day, for now I'm just going to enjoy myself
5:45
for a little bit longer in this proper hooligan of an M car
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