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All 700 of the BMW M4 GTSs that will be built are already sold. Here’s what you’re missing out on.
WHAT IS IT? The road-legal, track-focussed GTS is the most extreme BMW M4 yet. Lightweight tech, water injection and radical chassis helped it to a 7min 28sec lap of the Nürburgring, some 24sec swifter than the standard M4.
WHY WE’RE TESTING IT Our early drives of the M4 disappointed, mainly down to its uninspiring turbocharged straight six. We’re desperate to find out if the hardcore GTS can set our pulses racing again.
THE WHEELS VERDICT Comprehensive changes make for a radical departure from the stock M4, both in looks and feel. GTS is sharper, faster and more involving to drive. We only wish they’d put a bit of this magic into the standard production car.
PLUS: Massive leap over M4; super-sharp chassis and steering; thunderous soundtrack MINUS: Cost; have to strap kids to the cage; they’re only making 700 and they’re all sold out
No-one seems to care, because all are sold. Screeching around Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain with a stupid grin breaking out between gurns of concentration, I’m inclined to agree. The GTS is a massive step from the stock M4, and it’s so agile and gains such a slab of firepower that it actually feels much more than 30kg lighter. With the two-pedal dual-clutch transmission standard, I’m tempted to flog my left leg to fund a used one.
Soon after leaving the pitlane you know the GTS is something special. Where the stock M4 motor has a turbodiesel thrum, the GTS barks and rasps through a new titanium exhaust. Accelerate and the throttle snaps to attention and the cold Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s spin up (an inch larger at the rear at 285/30 R20); it feels exciting and just a little intimidating, a challenge to be mastered.
The guy who set that lap – chassis engineer Joerg Weidinger – also tuned the KW coilovers. Adjustable three ways, the bespoke suspension can lower by 15mm compared with the M4, and is adjustable for low- and high-speed compression, and rebound too. The possibilities for messing it up are endless, so it’s handy that BMW supplies both a wrench and two recommended settings: Street (also used for that bumpy ’Ring lap) and the Track option we’re testing. To me it feels pretty ideal, if just a little stiff in some sections; I’d soften the compression… no, the rebound… agh, leave it.
There’s extra performance from the engine, yes, but a hungrier character too: better response, an angrier exhaust note, and a feeling that you’re climbing to a power peak, not traversing a plateau.
Only the most involving sports cars leave that kind of lasting impression. There’s no doubting the M4 GTS is right up with them.
SPECS Model: BMW M4 GTS Engine: 2979cc six-cylinder bi-turbo, dohc, 24v Max power: 368kW @ 6250rpm Max torque: 600Nm @ 4000-5500rpm Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch aut Weight: 1510kg 0-100km/h: 3.8 sec Fuel economy: 8.5L/100km (est) Price: $280,000 On sale: Sold out
