BMW M2

BMW has reinstated the M2 for another innings, and under the controversial design, it ticks a lot of boxes to become a great car.

The all new M2 is the second generation of the compact sports-car, and it certainly doesn't disappoint on power, excitement and overall driving pleasure. While being small, the M2 packs a punch, with the powertrain and chassis technology coming over from the M3 and M4 models. Pair this with a 3.0L, inline-six engine capable of producing 460hp, and you have one fun little car. Now, before we get into the detailed description on what goes unseen in the M2, lets talk about that exterior. It's definitely boxy. But is that necessarily a bad thing? Not always. I personally quite like the small, squared off grill design, but the lower air-flow vents are hard to grasp. The rear is more forgivable, however, and will be interesting to see once customer cars hit the road.

Back to the stats then. You can option the new M2 with a six-speed manual gearbox, or stick with the M Steptronic paddle-shift system. All of the power is sent to the rear-wheels, hurtling the M2 from 0-100km/h in 4.1 seconds. If you opt for the manual, you'll have to wait two-tenths of a second to reach the 100km/h mark. BMW claims that it will be able to top out at 250km/h, and 284km/h with the M Drivers package. Pretty impressive!

The design of the new M2 is also quite impressive. It features a smaller grille than the recent M3 and M4: whether that's a good thing or not, we'll let you decide. But it certainly does look like a stubby, angry pig. The short wheel base and compact proportions are, of course, maximized for agility. The whole car is extremely similar to the new 2-Series, which is to be expected, however the rear is almost identical. Boxy shapes and sharper lines are used to demonstrate that this car is in the 'M-Line' range, which BMW did exceptionally. Although hard to grasp from online pictures, the overall design of the new M2 seems to look better in person. Only time will tell.

Price: $119,900AUD