New BMW M4 coupe and M3 sedan officially revealed
BMW has officially taken the wraps off the hotly anticipated M3 sedan and M4 coupe. The M3 has traditionally had a high revving inline 6-cylinder engine but with the last gen car BMW went for a V8. The car was nonetheless loved by all and will go down in history as one of the great high performance sedans. With the new car, BMW has dropped two cylinders and gone back to the much loved straight six format.
The new BMW M4
Fear not, the 3.0-litre engine still produces more power thanks to the use of two single scroll turbos. 425PS might not sound like an awful lot more than the old car's 414PS but the torque figure has shot through the roof, jumping from 400Nm in the old car to 550 in the new one. The torque peaks all the way from 1850-5500rpm after which the power immediately starts to peak and stays that way all the way to 7300rpm, just 300rpm shy of the redline. Drivability should be nothing short of phenomenal. BMW also claims a 25 per cent improvement in efficiency thanks to the turbo set up.
The BMW M3
There are two transmissions on offer ? a six-speed manual that automatically blips the throttle on for smooth high rev downshifts and the seven-speed twin clutch that you also get on the M5 and Z4. BMW quotes a 0-100kmph time of 4.1 seconds for the manual and 3.9 for the auto. That's supercar levels of performance, and right on par with the much more powerful M5. What helps the M3 keep up with its bigger 560PS brother is the fact that it weighs a lot less. Considerable use of CFRP (carbon fibre reinforced plastic) in the body work and plenty of aluminum in the suspension components helps keep weight down to a trim 1497kg in the M4 manual, while the M3 weighs only 23kg more.
By comparison that's a massive 400kg lighter than the M5 and just 40kg heavier than a Jetta 2.0-litre TDI!
The cars go on sale next year, and while it's not confirmed, we expect BMW to bring the M4 here if not both. Stay tuned.
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