Speed Week 2020: your complete guide to the BMW M2 CS

Thanks to a 444bhp twin-turbo 3.0-litre straight-six from the ‘old’ BMW M4, the M2 CS finally steps out of its big brother’s shadow in the numbers stakes. However, it doesn’t develop any more torque than the M2 Competition, but 406lb ft is plenty in a short-wheelbase coupe like this, with more than a penchant for going sideways at will.

Besides saving a bit of weight than can be ‘reinvested’ elsewhere in the car, the benefit of the M2 CS’s carbon bonnet is that natty new vent. It’s there to take advantage of the CS’s beefed-up cooling system, which has been upgraded because BMW expects plenty of owners will want to track their cars, and will be hoping for at least one lap on the Nürburgring before it gets too hot and bothered and needs a sit down.

Yep, bit awkward. Unlike the old E46 M3 CSL which was as stripped and raw as a car can get before it’s charged with GBH, the CS is not a lightweight special. Sure, it’s missing an armrest and the roof’s made of carbon fibre, but because the cooling has gone heavy-duty and there’s standard adaptive suspension, BMW claims exacts the same 1,570kg kerbweight as the M2 Competition. The only way to make your CS lighter still is to spec the ceramic brakes, which have the added benefit of removing a lot of weight from your wallet as well.

The M2 CS isn’t really a launch control weapon sort of customer, but it can still get out of its own way pretty sharpish in a straight line. BMW claims 0-62mph in 4.2 seconds if you can swap your own gears fast enough, or 4.0 seconds dead with the optional £2,100 seven-speed DCT paddleshifter, as fitted to our Speed Week test car.

The 711bhp Ferrari F8 won many fans on Speed Week, because of the magical ‘Side Slip Angle Control’ that basically turns any old Tom, Dick or Helen into a powersliding wondergod. The M2 CS isn’t quite that clever, but the M Dynamic Mode for the traction control will let you have a big armful of opposite lock, and wait for you to have a go at catching your own skids before it steps in and stops the whole £75,000 shebang twirling into the Irish Sea. Think of it as training wheels for wannabe Ken Blocks. Not fast, but addictively good fun.