Gadgetory

do any two characters ignite as much excitement among motoring enthusiasts as m3 I don't think so but now you've got to say m4 let's try the 2015 and check the check now in modern BMW parlance a3 is a sedan and a4 is a coupe more or less so an m4 is your lightest two-door M series car available today and it really harkens straight back to the original legendary e30 the car that made em a household word and had ruled over one now an m4 is about a $65,000 car it's nicely equipped but it's missing some key features to take it's seen that style that's where you want the executive package and Harman Kardon audio gets you a ticket over 70 grand let's see what it buys you now inside the same before a lot of things are familiar you're going to recognize the head unit I Drive has not changed substantially for this vehicle you're also going to recognize the iDrive controller note that the newer ones have this big knob with a touch pad on top for handwriting recognition and directional arrows now m4 s come pretty loaded up they have navigation standard but notice they don't have a rear-view camera standard you have to pay extra for that and BMW generally excellent voice command is a standout on this navigation screen navigate to 235 second Street San Francisco California processing your input did you mean 235 second Street San Francisco that's slick one button press one phrase and of course you've got all the standard media sources I can't call that anything it's really missing radio with HD and just a better be kind of brought in media player source or storage device you never want to use one thing you will find on this car that not every I drive unit has are these sport displays you can get a power output and a torque output virtual gauge up here to compliment your largely traditional analog gauges in front of the driver there isn't even really much of an LCD helper screen a small one down there but this car takes it old-school now let's look at the drive controls that are key to an M car here is your shifter we have a DCT dual clutch transmission not the optional manual down below it are three grades of aggression if you will for how that transmission responds over here is your power train button that will put you in either efficiency mode sport or Sport+ and down here is your steering field that also has three grades to go along with it now to make these more of a macro you have an m1 and m-2 button here to em sport modes that are programmable to whatever combination of these attributes you want to put under them and an adaptive suspension is available on the m4 it's not standard now the big news under the hood is no more v8 now it's a twin-turbo inline 6 3 litre and those turbos are a matched pair it's not one of those twin-scroll single turbos you're not going to miss the other two cylinders 425 horsepower here 406 pound-feet of torque gets this rear wheel drive car up to 60 and 3.9 seconds with the dual clutch transmission that most folks are going to get if you do get the rare bird manual you give up a couple tenths you'll be around 4.10 and this is tasty a carbon-fiber reinforced plastic stabilizer bar across the struts just say carbon-fiber first thing I notice right off the bat where's the turbo lag I think I can actually say they've zeroed it out I'm not detecting any especially transitioning on and off throttle which is usually where turbos get cloth really flat-footed it ain't happening this is sweet and that gets us into great dynamics in four directions going this way no lag lift off the throttle great deceleration I really like and miss that and of course we've got great laterals on this car for a variety of reasons but the one that's new is that we've got a hundred and eighty pound weight loss over the last generation they've done it with carbon fiber lightweight materials the smaller engine as well as a lightweight clutch pack all of this added up to 180 pounds reduced that's like throwing your passenger out that makes a difference and I defy even the most hardcore driving enthusiasts to have a problem a big problem with this electric steering rack BMW knows they've got to get that right especially on this car in some finesse nothing comes on like a sledgehammer that's harder to do than just brute power and speed in conclusion the m4 is the essence of em nothing you don't need everything you want m6 seriously this car is going to come in at a pretty steep price as you notice so if you're not gonna track it don't waste your money get another four which will be very potent but not at the razor's edge this here is what it's all about if you know em and love it you