Extreme BMW M4 spy shots
Race car bits, road car bits and a huge rear wing - what is BMW planning?
But with this BMW M4, we're stumped. For the large part it appears a roadgoing car, using the standard wheels, Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres and even the steel brakes. But it won't take you long to spot where this car is drastically different from even an M4 GTS, leave alone a stock M4.
From the front there's a jutting chin spoiler, so prominent it needs to be tethered to the bumper. The tape on the bonnet doesn't appear to be too important, certainly not compared to the tarmac scraping side skirts. Not only do they make even those skirts on the Elise Cup 250 look a little apologetic, they even make the 19-inch wheels appear rather small.
That odd stance is no doubt helped by what's going on at the back. There's an incredibly aggressive diffuser just a few centimetres from the ground, combined with a gigantic rear wing as well. It's bigger than you'll find on a GTS but not quite DTM-esque, so could it perhaps be a test mule for the upcoming M4 GT4?
Whatever it is, we're intrigued by what the final result could be. Any further guesses, educated or otherwise, most certainly welcome!
Photos: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien
Whatever happened to subtle and tasty modifications from manufacturers? The E46 M3 CSL was tastefully done, since then, BMW's have gotten worse with their 'hardcore' models.
E46 M3 CSL is a great example, only way I can tell the difference externally is the duck tail spoiler (very tame by many standards), and the new air intake hole in the front bumper, but the car is already going down as a legend.
Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy for special cars to look as such, but there's a balance to be struck between exterior craziness, and actual mechanical changes, and at pretty much all points I want the changes to be functional.
"What the fk have porsche done with this RS?! Why does it have splitters and wings and generate downforce?! GO BACK TO HALFORDS UGH."
Freakin' bizarro world up in here.
I have a feeling we're not as far away in opinion as you might think... I generally love the Porsche RS cars, tbh I was pretty disappointed the 991 RS didn't have stickers! (I realise I'm contradicting myself here with the functional part), but in general that's because cars from Porsche's GT division are really special things, they're not just a standard Carrera with a bit more power and some carbon parts. For me, the "specialness" of the engineering justifies slightly silly looks. So, I love a GT3RS, or 675LT, but find the new Civic Type-R too much.
I have a feeling we're not as far away as you might think... I generally love the Porsche RS cars, tbh I was pretty disappointed the 991 RS didn't have stickers! (I realise I'm contradicting myself here with the functional part), but in general that's because cars from Porsche's GT division are really special things, they're not just a standard Carrera with a bit more power and some carbon parts. For me, the "specialness" of the engineering justifies slightly silly looks. So, I love a GT3RS, or 675LT, but find the new Civic Type-R too much.
You've not given this a fair chance yet though, if it's what I think it is, it'll have trick dampers and arms and steering and Tom Schirmer will have helped set up the chassis. Turn up the boost and you'll probable have a RS fighter on your hands
E: Here's a Schirmer customer car which is very much a work in progress from what I understand...
Pretty similar! It'll be brill
You've not given this a fair chance yet though, if it's what I think it is, it'll have trick dampers and arms and steering and Tom Schirmer will have helped set up the chassis. Turn up the boost and you'll probable have a RS fighter on your hands
E: Here's a Schirmer customer car which is very much a work in progress from what I understand...
Pretty similar! It'll be brill
I really can't decide on the M4 GTS, first glance I find it way too garish, but then by all reports it really is a special car, I think for me with the M4 GTS it's more a matter of the details I don't actually like, such as the matt ("frozen") paint, and style of the wheels. All a bit too "bling" rather than "racer".
There will be a CSL that will sit above the GTS but I doubt this is it, looks very Heath Robinson even for a test mule.
A road going variant would be awesome, but where would the price be? GTS is already pretty pricey for us mortals in the standard M car bracket.
A road going variant would be awesome, but where would the price be? GTS is already pretty pricey for us mortals in the standard M car bracket.
My hope would be (doubtful though I'm sure), that the idea of a M4 GT4 would be to strip it back, rather than add power, so effectively compete with a Cayman GT4, rather than a 911 GT3.
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