🚘 TESTED BMW M4 DTM CHAMPION EDITION 🚘

igider (56)in #sports • 7 years ago

ENGINE 2 979 cc, 6-cylinder twin turbo

POWER 368 kW @ 6 250 rpm, 600 Nm from 4 000–5 500 rpm

PERFORMANCE 0–100 km/h in 3.8 sec, top speed 305 km/h

TYRES 265/35/R19 front, 285/30/R20 rear

ECONOMY 8.5 ℓ/100 km

TRANSMISSION 7-speed dual-clutch

CO2 EMISSIONS 199 g/km

PRICE R2 300 000

At first, I’m shocked how similar each car’s footprint is – a modern-day 4 Series is indeed as big as a 7 Series from the ’80s. Then I refocus and reassess. He’s on slicks, but I have the power advantage here. My twin-turbo 3.0-litre straight six makes use of M’s innovative water injection, which sprays water right into the inlet manifold, cooling the intake charge and allowing the turbos to run higher boost. The outcome: 368 kW/600 Nm (the standard M4 pushes 317 kW/550 Nm) and the sort of eruption – when you engage launch control and batter 0–100 km/h in 3.8 seconds – that Mount Etna would be jealous of.

Through the quick, undulating sweep before the tight second-gear hairpin, we are nose to tail, the DTM’s power and handling combining in that brilliantly fluid quality that only really well-sorted cars seem to possess. The rigid chassis resists roll, allowing you to stay on the power, as if you're surfing an invisible wave of traction. ‘Make no mistakes, stay clean and close, Ray!’ Up the hill out the infield section, the steering feels transparent and alive; I can lean on the front end as much as I want, or shift a bit of weight on to the back axle through the late-apex left hander. With the 745i’s slicks embedded just that tiny bit more than my Michelins, he pulls a couple of car lengths on me, but I’ve still got the best seat in the house all the way through the last corner back on to the start-finish straight and on to the flag.

Verdict? Well, the transformation of the DTM Championship Edition over the standard M4 is simply incredible. The M4 is an already breathtakingly fast car, but the change here comes in more than just the car’s abilities: It’s how much confidence it instils in the driver. It’s raw and feels a bit desensitised, though connected enough that you can take it to the limit and savour it. Well, not you or me, of course. Because only 200 DTMs have been made worldwide, and out of the 15 coming to SA, retailing at R2.3 million, all have been sold. But not to worry. If you know BMW, you realise that between the GTS, Competition Package, M Performance Package and Club Sport (CS) there’s bound to be another absurd limited-edition model on the way soon