Thorough test on the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit at the wheel of the BMW M2 CS Racing. A customer racing car with a 450 hp 6-cylinder turbo engine. The BMW M2 CS Racing is the competition version of the M2 CS. Yes, that car that we thoroughly tested in Andorra next to the 1M.
Precisely the street M2 CS served to homologate the M2 CS Racing. The improvements introduced by the CS also reached the evolution of the circuit. The M2 CS is possibly the BMW, more BMW that exists today. A coupé with a three-volume body type, powered by a 6-cylinder in-line gasoline engine and rear-wheel drive on top.
A pure-bred sports car, designed by and for those who want to enjoy driving to the fullest. But beware, instead of resorting to the recipe of a rear mid-engine, all-wheel drive and others… Here we start from a relatively normal car as a base, with a practical 4-seat cabin and a trunk as God intended.
The figures are spectacular. Its 3-liter turbo engine declares 450 hp at 6,500 rpm and 550 Nm of torque continuously from 2,350 rpm to 5,500 rpm. Announces an acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h in 4 seconds and a top of 280 km / h. Although that street M2 CS mounted a six-speed manual gearbox, this M2 CS Racing uses the 7-speed automatic that was also offered on the street M2 CS.
The M2 CS Racing is what is known as a client race car. A racing car with which you can compete in the M2 cup, in German VLN style races, as well as in many other international and national championships. But beware, if you want you can also buy it solely and exclusively to do circuit runs.
The grace of the M2 CS Racing is that it is a very simple car to manage. You unload it from the trailer/truck in the paddock of the circuit, you start it up and you can go to the track to enjoy it. There are no complicated start-up procedures here, nor do you need any engineer or mechanic to start it up.
The BMW M2 CS Racing has a price in Spain without taxes of 113,900 euros.
- The 75 street M2 CS units that arrived in Spain have already been sold. If you want a new BMW click on this link to access the current offer that you will find in cars.net.
- But you know, if you don’t get it for the new one now in coche.net there are more than 400 second-hand BMW M2 with prices ranging from 40,000 to 104,000 euros.
Deep in the rain
The Madrid driver José Manuel de los Milagros shares the wheel of this M2 CS Racing with the Valencian Nerea Martí. Together they compete for BMW Spain this 2022 season in the Spanish Endurance Championship. Precisely for this test I had the advice and coaching of José Manuel inside the car itself.
The first two laps were used to see how the wet tires responded. The Milagros himself told me the ideal line in the rain, driving practically all the time outside the fast line that is used in the dry.
The key to this technique is that on the good line there is much more rubber and with the water it becomes a much more slippery area than the rest of the width of the track. As the saying goes, you will never go to bed without knowing one more thing.
By doing this you enjoy a beastly level of grip, both when accelerating and when braking. Despite the fact that the controls were activated, they only intervened between turns 11 and 12. There was a continuous flow of water there, like a channel, and despite being very cautious, it was not enough.
The first thing that struck me was how much it resembles the road-going M2 CS in terms of being a transparent and communicative car. I never would have imagined that a racing car with 450 hp would be so easy to handle on the track in the wet.
At all times you feel the reactions of the vehicle, with what you know when something is going to happen and what is going to happen. Very few modern cars are capable of transmitting so much, much less communicating it so clearly. Every lap you do you get to know it better and the car itself encourages you to go faster and faster.
That day the asphalt did not seem like it was to shoot rockets, it did not stop raining and there was more and more water on the track. However, it was getting faster and faster. It’s one of those situations that you have to live through, because if they tell you about it, you almost don’t believe it.
The 450 hp engine pushes with spectacular brio, plus it offers a most pleasant musical note. The 7-speed automatic gearbox to which it is associated is also amazing. Through the paddles on the steering wheel you can manage the change like the good racing car that it is, the right to go up and the left to go down. It not only runs, it also brakes. It mounts 380 mm diameter steel discs, with Alcon 6-piston calipers at the front and 4-piston at the rear.
In the instrument panel you have the main data, as well as very clear indications that help you when it comes to finding the ideal moment to change gear. The steering wheel is also super comfortable, with a thickness and a most pleasant touch.
Even the competition seat is comfortable, it holds a lot but at the same time it has padding almost like a street car backet. But it does not end there, the seat offers longitudinal adjustment, and the steering column is also adjustable in height and length. This means that if you share the wheel with other drivers of very different sizes, it is very easy to find the ideal position in a few seconds.
In short
The experience with the M2 CS Racing was brutal. If I had a great time in the rain, I don’t even want to imagine how much fun it must be in the dry. De los Milagros told me that if there was a chance I could try it again on dry asphalt. José Manuel I take you at your word that this must be seen!
