For those PHers lucky enough to be considering a GT4 entry at the moment, you're rather spoilt for choice:
Porsche
AMG
McLaren
have all recently revealed new racing cars for the category, those three now joined by BMW with the M4 GT4.
An M car with indicators? Whatever next?!
Sadly it doesn't look quite as wild as the original
preview sketch
, though there's certainly no mistaking it for the road car with its new front splitter and rear wing, plus super aggressive aero flics. Not a race car without flics, is it? That's in addition to carbon fibre doors, a racing exhaust and a seat, brakes and pedal box that "make use of solutions" found in the M6 GT3. There are notable road car links though, with the engine and DCT gearbox carried over from the standard M4 and a carbon bonnet from the
GTS
The brakes are by AP Racing - 390mm at the front, 355mm at the back - and the GT4 also uses Ohlins dampers, a mechanical limited-slip diff and a 125-litre endurance tank. The DSC and ABS have also been race tuned by BMW Motorsport.
Then it begins to get a little more complicated. Apparently the M4 GT4 is fitted with "power sticks", which can be set to a variety of engine performance levels. The aim is to make the car easily adaptable to different Balance of Performance rules, the sticks said to be protected against manipulation and approved by the SRO Motorsport Group. If anyone knows exactly what a power stick is then we'd love to know...
Consider it an M6 GT3-lite
The M4 GT4 has been in pre-production testing at the 24 Hours of Dubai and the Nordschleife, with the car back at the latter for this weekend's 24-Hour in full race trim. The car will be raced by Dirk Adorf, Ricky Collard, Jorg Weidinger and some bloke called Jethro Bovingdon. Apparently he writes about cars on occasion...
As well as making its full race debut this weekend, the M4 GT4 is also now on sale from BMW to private race teams. It costs 169,000 Euros plus VAT, which is about what a GTS costs at the moment. Should you be interested, contact BMW on perhaps the best email address ever: M4GT4@bmw-motorsport.com. Now, who can Photoshop a Warsteiner livery on?
here