This isn’t just a great onboard video of a hot new BMW M-car on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It marks a radical departure for the Bavarian brand – all the other M-car laptimes you’ll find scattered around the internet are based on unsubstantiated claims or SportAuto magazine hotlaps.
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Here are my quick-fire observations:
- Too often manufacturers make bold claims without providing any evidence whatsoever (Alfa? Giulia? <cough> #ShowMeTheVideoOrGTFO), so full marks to BMW for releasing this.
- The quality is just impressive, especially in 4k! No messing, an uptodate GoPro in the windscreen, another pointed at the driver and some simple data overlays.
- The driver is Jörg Weidinger, full time chassis engineer, part time BMW Driving Experience instructor, and two time German and European Hillclimb Champion. Really.
- Speed limits? BMW are the first manufacturer to openly show a car breaking the largely-unenforced 2015 speedlimits since Lamborghini released the Aventador sub-7 full lap. It does 225kmh into the 200kmh zone before Flugplatz, a whopping 262kmh into Schwedenkreuz (through the 250 limit) and an even more surprising 260kmh into Fuchsröhre! Oh, and 272kmh in the 250 Döttinger Höhe limit, and nearly 280 into the Tiergarten dip.
- If you don’t want to hear Jörg’s deadpan, though sometimes insightful, commentary there’s a ‘clean’ video here. Und mit Deutschen Kommentaren hier. The 4k YouTube (English) version is below:
The new (and already sold-out) BMW M4 GTS is a 500hp, lightweight, road-legal trackday weapon. Famous in magazines for incorporating a water injection system, it also boasts a 3-way adjustable coil-over suspension kit, half rollcage, sexy seats and a weight-saving of 62kg. Compare it to the standard model here.
