BMW M4 GTS 2016 Review

BMW M4 GTS

BMW couldn’t have been more conspicuous with the development of its latest limited-run M special, the M4 GTS, masquerading as the MotoGP ‘Safety Car’ in front of an audience of millions for over a year now. Finally there’s a production version, all that track time paying off rather well – though there’s no option for roof lights. Fancy a chasing pack of unhinged motorcyclists? Rock up to a bike track day in one of these …

Disguises are usually a little bit more subtle than flashing lights, big stickers and a TV audience of millions, but that’s exactly how BMW has been developing the M4 GTS, in plain sight, as the safety car for MotoGP races.

That very car is on hand here and Frank van Meel, President BMW M Division, laughs when discussing his clever ruse, admitting it’s a good way to get lots of track time on lots of different circuits. Still, with the regular M4 gaining mixed reviews, something had to be done, and this 700-run series of specialness is it. The M4 GTS: three additional letters that add a lot more promise to the package, particularly if you’re a bit of a track fiend.

Just don’t bother attempting to join the queue without a sizeable premium, as every one of the 700 has been accounted for worldwide. For that you can blame BMW’s previous M3 specials, including this car’s namesake GTS, the CSL, GT and Sport Evo relating to the E90, E46, E36 and E30 3 Series respectively. BMW fanboys love the proper nomenclature.

Because all these have gone on to become bona-fide classics, collectors' machines that are as safe as money in the bank, getting your hands on a M4 GTS is as likely as a lottery win. We can only hope that, instead of being wheeled into climate-controlled garages to be added to collections, a few examples of the new M4 GTS get driven to the odd track for some proper use, as those M engineers haven’t been messing about upping the specification.

We’re all aware that water and combustion are uncomfortable bedfellows, yet the M4 GTS’s 3.0-litre six-cylinder engine gets a water injection system. It sprays a fine mist of distilled water into the intake manifold plenum chamber and its benefits are impressive: The evaporation significantly reduces the temperature of the intake air, benefitting combustion. Other gains include a reduced risk of engine knock and unburnt fuel, all of which allows a higher turbo boost pressure and earlier spark timing.

The bare bones?  A five-litre tank of distilled water in the spare wheel recess of the M4’s boot, along with a bit of clever plumbing, sees that turbocharged inline-six delivering 373kW (over the standard version's 321kW) and torque rising from 550 to 600Nm.

That allows the 0-100km/h time drops three tenths from 4.1 to 3.8 seconds, though the fuel consumption remains identical, as if you really care. It’ll rev to 7,600rpm, though peak power output is at 6250rpm, yet it’s more flexible across its entire rev range, pulling stronger from earlier.

And the changes don’t just stop at the engine.

You only need to look at it to realise it’s a bit of a trick. There are no rear seats; those have been replaced by a cage - if you want it - while the front seats are fixed-back lightweight buckets.

That alone accounts for a significant proportion of the overall weight loss, but there’s more: A titanium exhaust not only drops a few kilos, but also allows that 3.0-litre inline six a voice that’s significantly more guttural, the down and dirty note more motorsport than road car – though it can be toned down a bit by pressing the right buttons.

Like all recent M cars there’s the choice to fiddle with the settings, though with very limited time in the car we take Van Meel’s advice and opt to press the M2 button, which speeds everything up, ensures that exhaust is in its most obnoxious setting and heightens the thresholds of the stability and traction control systems to a point where it’ll allow decent degrees of yaw before gently bringing things back into line.

By limited time we’re talking seven laps of Barcelona’s  4.65km Circuit de Catalunya, BMW deciding to launch its track-developed M4 GTS in its most natural environment.

Three of those seven laps include two for sighting and one to cool things down. In front is one of the men who developed the car and he’s not hanging about, either, so it’d be rude not to hang onto his bumper as he knows his way around here better than I do.

Having driven that MotoGP safety car a year or so back the similarities are immediately obvious. While the focus technically has largely been on that trick water injection system, the key differences centre on how the M4 GTS feels.

Attached to the standard wheels (or an optional set of carbon fibre rims saving a combined 7kg of mass), is a suspension system that’s unique to the GTS.

There are lightweight aluminium control arms, wheel carriers and axle sub-frames, cutting weight on the front axles alone by 5kg over their steel counterparts. The ball joints and elastomer bearings are added to an M coil-over system with adjustable rebound and compression settings too, allowing the car’s suspension to be individually set up for the track you’re taking it to.

In Barcelona it’s a bit stiff, as the track is rather bumpy and van Meel admits he’d back it off a bit for the surface here. Watching the car in front skip about mid-bend, that much is obvious, but from behind the wheel it’s less so.

The way the M4 GTS gets around here is remarkable; that it’s quick comes as little surprise given its prodigious output, but it’s the way it produces its power that’s so different to the standard car.

That water injection system might not really work until you’re pushing the pedal to the floor and there’s 5,500rpm on the rev counter, but it’s so much more eager, which is partly down to the lack of inertia that some of the weight losses bring.

The M DCT gearbox shifts via paddles and it's quick, if not delivering the lightning response of some of its competition, though that is as much down to the immediacy of everything else in the GTS’s makeup, particularly when related to the chassis.

The biggest draw though is the way M4 GTS feels, as the steering is so much more precise, its  weighting perfect and its response far crisper than you’ll get in the somewhat muted standard M4.

Those suspension changes clearly remove any slack from the system. That’s as true through the seat; it’s possible to feel exactly what the GTS is doing all of the time. It’s mobile too, so the rear is happy to move under its ample power, though it’s easily caught and enjoyed, the transition from grip to slip being so brilliantly communicated as to make it feel like the most natural thing in the world.

On a track it’s an absolute hoot, which, given its aim and development, comes as little surprise, though that should translate to a fairly incredible road car, too. We’ll need to wait to find out if that's true but rest assured, if you are one of the lucky 700 who have their name next to one, we implore you to use it as it should be used.

The BMW M4 GTS is a special thing indeed.

2016 BMW M4 GTS pricing and specifications:

Price: TBC
On sale: June

Engine: 3.0-litre in-line six-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 372kW/600Nm

Transmission: Seven-speed M DCT automatic
Fuel: 8.3L/100km (EU Combined)
CO2: 199g/km (EU Combined)
Safety rating: TBC

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