BMWs are often known as being small, lightweight, fun little things. While MINI has the actual go-kart tagline, smaller BMWs have been said to have go-kart like handling in the past. Especially small M cars. However, can a small M car actually take on a go-kart on track? In this video from Joe Achilles, he pits his own BMW M2 Competition against an actual go-kart.
In fact, he actually test the M2 Competition against two go-karts, a Sodi and a DMax, to see which is fastest around the very tight, very technical, nearly kilometer-long karting track. So can the relatively bulky and cumbersome BMW M2 Competition take on two go-karts?
To be honest, yes it can. Obviously, it’s the karts that feel the most at home on the track, as it’s a super technical, very tight circuit, with a few back-to-back hairpins. So the BMW M2 felt a bit too big and heavy to handle a lot of it. Still, it packs a 405 horsepower twin-turbocharged I6, compared to the little Honda engines, with barely over 100 horsepower. Sure, the karts carry their speed through corners better but don’t underestimate raw power.
Despite the impressive times of the go-karts, the BMW M2 Competition was actually the fastest of the bunch. All of that extra power made the M2 unbeatable in the straights, even though it lost some ground in the corners. Admittedly, it only beat the DMax by a few tenths of a second but that’s still impressive considering the M2 was so outside of its element. It did manhandle the meagerly powered Sodi kart, though.
It also goes to show that the BMW M2 Competition is far more nimble and agile than the average little coupe. Combine that with its 400 horsepower and it’s the perfect combination of power, performance and agility.
