Testing the 2024 BMW M2—maybe the last M car with a manual transmission

We’re at an attention-grabbing crossroads within the high-performance fanatic automobile market. Operating east to west is the adoption of electrical automobiles and a gradual discount in inner combustion engine automobile manufacturing. North to south is the development of ICE horsepower from the manufacturing facility through the years, and it is unclear how far it continues from right here. Coming in diagonally is the weakening demand for handbook transmissions—that is sadly the place they finish.

In the course of this intersection is the 2024 BMW M2 six-speed handbook, hanging its tail out in a large managed drift across the edges, expressing one final hurrah as BMW’s last object of internal-combustion M automobile affection.

I just lately had the chance to pilot BMW’s newest, smallest M automobile by means of a few of Southern California’s most enjoyable mountain roads, plus Willow Springs Worldwide Raceway’s Streets of Willow circuit. In terms of shortly determining this sort of automobile’s powertrain and chassis, I can not consider a greater mixture of pavement. This is what makes the most recent—and final—six-speed-manual-equipped M2 technology an general glorious fanatic coupe.

Targeted inside-out

Appears to be like are subjective, notably BMW seems to be, however I feel BMW did a very good job on the M2’s exterior. Its kidney grilles, headlights, fender flares, exhaust ideas, and huge fenders—particularly within the rear quarter panels—are engaging. It is a muscular little coupe, and it undoubtedly informs you of its intentions with its huge intakes minimize into its entrance finish. Behind them lies a warmth exchanger for its engine’s air-to-water intercooling (extra on that in a bit), plus a number of different types of water and oil cooling to make sure long-lasting peak efficiency, all-twisty-road-and-track-session-long. It is exhausting to mistake it for a base 2 Sequence.

Inside, it is fairly spacious for a coupe and has nice visibility throughout. My check automobile included the $9,900 Carbon Package deal, which will get you snug, near-race-bucket carbon fiber seats and a slick carbon roof. I am 6 ft and three inches tall, so the absence of sliding glass up high was a godsend and even allowed me to put on a helmet on observe without having to recline, a rarity in fashionable vehicles. The seats are a little bit of a ache to slip out and in of, and the left leg bolster pushed inward barely an excessive amount of, impeding environment friendly and comfy clutch motion for my lanky determine. I think many of us would not have the identical difficulty, although.

Know-how-wise, a crisp 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 14.9-inch touchscreen take up a whole lot of actual property. BMW’s iDrive 8 software program is straightforward to get the cling of, operates fairly seamlessly, and has good haptic suggestions. Supplies high quality is general fairly good; all buttons and dials felt substantial, and the Carbon Package deal consists of stylish slabs of carbon fiber trim as an alternative of the boring previous piano black plastic that is all too widespread in fashionable efficiency vehicles.