The baby M goes into production in November, but until then, it’s in full testing mode.
In order for the engineers to fine tune its suspension, chassis and overall dynamics to perfection, the little Bimmer is undergoing a painstaking process of testing. Of course, being from a line of pure-bred German cars, Nurburgring is the obvious choice for testing its capabilities.
Listening to the engine note while the car goes up and down the track, we can’t help thinking that it sounds like a modern-interpretation of a BMW 2002 turbo. The inline-six, 3.0-litre Twin-turbocharged N55 unit is believed to develop around 365-horses.
If that doesn’t sound like much, please note that the stock 235i RWD weighs 1450 kg and we’re expecting the mass of the future M model to be around this figure. That makes it as light as an E36 M3 Coupe, but with a lot more grunt. In fact, the fast M3 E46, powered by a 3.2-litre L6 that developed 333hp, had a weight of 1,549 kg – so there’s something to think about.
The nimbleness of the car can be seen in the video down below. Get out of the way, tiny camouflaged Opel Corsa OPC!