BMW Motorsport has revealed the technical specifications of its new M2 CS Racing, the entry-level customer car that will be the successor to the M235i Racing and M240i Racing. The specifications were released simultaneously with the specs for the new road version, the M2 CS. BimmerLife editor Alex Tock’s story on the road car appears here.
The new race car, based on the road car, will run a 2,979 cc S55 M inline-six with BMW M TwinPower Turbo Technology. The engine will produce between 280 and 365 hp, depending on the Balance of Performance specs in the series in which the car runs. Maximum torque is 406 pound-feet.
BMW notes that “Another highlight of the BMW M2 CS Racing is the engine management. As for the BMW M4 GT4, this will be via power sticks in the future, which enable various performance levels to be programmed and retrieved depending on the stipulated Balance of Performance.”
Power is transmitted to the road via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission “applied using specialist motorsport software,” a mechanical Drexler limited-slip differential with pre-load and separate cooling, specially manufactured driveshafts, and rear wheel bearings modified for motorsport.
The street version of M2 CS, in contrast to the race car, is available with either the seven-speed auto or a six-speed manual, and the engine in the street version delivers 444 horsepower. BMW says it is already working on an upgrade package to deliver 450 horsepower in the race car. Both the race car and the road car sport a carbon fiber roof among other CFRP lightweight bits.
The race car has a built-in FIA-Spec roll cage and FIA-spec racing seat, air conditioning, and a six-point racing harness.
The car has already been tested on the track. After test sessions at Miramas in France and Portimão in Portugal, it ran in the fifth round of the VLN Endurance Championship at the Nürburgring. BMW notes that “At the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, the most demanding racetrack in the world, BMW Motorsport Junior Beitske Visser and Jörg Weidinger, test and development engineer at BMW M GmbH and a very successful participant in the BMW Sports Trophy over many years himself, completed the first endurance test and provided the engineers with valuable insights under race conditions. Further outings at the ‘Green Hell’ came in the seventh and ninth round of the VLN.”
The new race car will start at 95,000 Euros plus VAT. Delivery is planned for mid-2020. Until then, competitors in VLN in Europe and the SRO TC class in North America will no doubt continue to run the M240i Racing.
BMW motorsport director Jens Marquardt says, “With the BMW M2 CS Racing, we are continuing the tradition of providing ambitious teams and drivers with an affordable gateway to racing—this time with a car that, with impressive performance data and the latest BMW Motorsport technology, meets all the requirements of a pedigree racing car, better than any previous entry-level model before it. Using the perfect base of the BMW M2 CS and in close collaboration with BMW M GmbH colleagues, BMW Motorsport engineers used many of the insights from the development of the BMW M4 GT4 to set totally new standards in the entry-level class with its little brother, the BMW M2 CS Racing. I am confident that we will continue the success story of BMW M Customer Racing vehicles with this car.”—Brian Morgan
[Photos courtesy BMW AG.]