BMW has officially started the countdown until the world premiere of what will be the last M car to do away with electrification. Indeed, the M2 G87 will go down in history as the final ICE-only model to carry the "world's most powerful letter." The German premium brand has been teasing the new M2 for a while and now we’re being told the wraps will come off in October. The sports coupe is scheduled to hit the market in April 2023.
We've had the opportunity to get behind the wheel of an M2 prototype earlier this year to sample the tail-happy machine. Indeed, BMW plans to sell its smallest M car exclusively with a Rear-wheel-drive layout, which will receive the engine's power through a standard six-speed manual transmission or an optional eight-speed M Steptronic automatic gearbox.
As for the engine, the S58 will come from the M4, but don't expect similar levels of power as that would enable the next-gen M2 to cannibalize sales of the bigger M car. The press release doesn't go into details about the output, but company officials have told us the twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six will be dialed to somewhere in the region of 450 hp.
BMW mentions the revamped M2 will deliver just about the same level of performance as the old M2 CS. It will inherit the braking system from the M4 and will be offered with a carbon fiber roof to shave off weight. At an additional cost, carbon-fiber bucket seats at the front will enhance the sporty ambiance inside the cabin. Speaking of which, the interior will host the instrument cluster and touchscreen in the same curved piece of glass as on all BMWs that have the iDrive 8.
During our time with a prototype, we discovered the M2 had the same adaptive dampers as well as the 275/35/19 front and 285/30/20 rear tires as the M4. Compared to lesser versions of the 2 Series Coupe, the front and rear tracks have been widened by a significant 2.1 inches (5.3 centimeters). Once the colorful M livery will be removed, the new M2 should look quite aggressive and a visible upgrade over the M240i.
October is still a long way to go, so we have a feeling BMW has a lot of teasers in the pipeline to build up hype around the epilogue of its M+ICE formula.
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