It’s official; the new BMW M2 CS is now the fastest compact car around the Nürburgring. With an official lap time of 7 minutes and 25.5 seconds, the Competition Sport has dethroned the Audi RS3. The hottest G87 version to date managed to shave an impressive 7.6 seconds off the previous lap record. Perhaps even more remarkable is the gap between the CS and the standard M2, as the hardcore special edition is 13.2 seconds quicker.
Behind the wheel was BMW M development engineer Jörg Weidinger, who also drove the regular M2 back in 2023. So, how did BMW manage to dramatically improve the lap time? The new CS benefits from a stronger twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six engine, delivering an extra 50 hp and 50 Nm (36 lb-ft) of torque. It’s also 30 kilograms lighter, or 97 pounds for the U.S.-spec model. But there’s more to the story.
The regular M2 set its lap using Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. The M2 CS? BMW’s rear-wheel-drive coupe ran on stickier Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS rubber. These are still road-legal tires, so BMW didn’t bend the rules. In fact, when the car debuted in the second half of May, the M division highlighted the availability of “ultra-track” tires.
As suspected yesterday, when BMW teased a camouflaged car, the record-setting lap was completed before the official debut. Weidinger set the new benchmark on April 11, about six weeks ahead of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este premiere. The lap time corresponds to the longer 20.8-kilometer (12.9-mile) configuration of the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.
Unsurprisingly, the M2 CS is still slower than the M4 CS, which clocked in at 7 minutes and 21.9 seconds, making it 3.6 seconds faster. The fastest production BMW to ever lap the Green Hell remains the M4 CSL, with a 7:18.1 lap, 7.4 seconds ahead of the M2 CS. It may take another CSL model to beat that time. BMW has mentioned the possibility of an M2 CSL, but nothing has been decided yet.
