2016 BMW M2 DCT drive review: Just as fun with paddles? Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/car-reviews/2016-bmw-m2-dct-review-just-fun-paddles#ixzz4NvXbD6OP

[Keepman.]

We drove the manual-equipped M2 a few months ago and everyone but Rory loved it. We called it the best Bimmer in the stable right now, and after driving this DCT M2, I’ll stick with our assessment. The steering has about the perfect weight to it. It’s easy when standing still, but as soon as you get going it stiffens up nicely. This is made for carving corners and, like I said last time, I’d love to get it on a racetrack. Thank god Bimmer went to Michelin Pilot Super Sports as opposed to those sucky runflats. Acceleration, braking and cornering grip are all outstanding. Power takes a few beats to come on, but once it does, hold on tight. In sport-plus mode it’ll chirp into second gear and chirp into third using the paddles. I love that feeling -- and that sound. I didn’t turn the traction control all the way off, but it feels like it would perform like the M3, just getting loose over a little gravel at 60 mph. I love when it starts to get sideways around a corner and you can just grab the next gear to get grip back. Don’t try that in something like the Challenger SRT, by the way; it may just get looser. Brakes are good, the pedal went in a little far for me, but they could just be a little worn in. Again, like the manual car, the suspension is just about perfect in stiffness and comfort. It gets a little bouncy at speed on the expressway, but it makes the experience even better. Mrs. Road Test Editor said it was making her a little nauseous, but I think she was exaggerating. I love this dual-clutch. In normal mode, gear changes are nearly imperceptible, at least to butt dyno when not at full throttle. You can hear it change, but it’s super-smooth. In sport plus, at full throttle, you’ll hear it and feel the shove in the back. It’s just fun all around. The paddles feel solid too, with little nubs at the bottom for your index fingers. There are times deep in corner, or when taking off, that you’ll need to think for a sec on which paddle to grab, mostly when the wheel is turned more than 90 degrees. I did throw the car seat base in the back to take Road Test Editor Jr. for a cruise on Woodward. It fit, was easy to install with the little flaps for the LATCH system hooks. It left just enough room for the wife in front. I wouldn’t -- ahem, she wouldn’t --recommend it for longer than an hour, but she said it felt about the same as the Shelby GT350. In this class, with the Audi S3 and CLA AMG, I’d take this M2, mostly because of its rear-wheel-drive chassis. If that’s not No. 1 on your priority list, all three are great. The S3 is almost 10 grand cheaper though, so keep that in mind, as well. Lastly, I’m sick of this aquamarine-but-more-bluish color, let me see one in red, or black, or that crazy yellow-green. --Jake Lingeman, road test editor Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/car-reviews/2016-bmw-m2-dct-review-just-fun-paddles#ixzz4NvXgbaUh
OTHER VOICES: The BMW M2 is said to be the spiritual successor of the legendary M3s of yore – the E36, E46 and maybe even the E90. A spiritual successor in the sense of a small, I6 powered rear-tire roaster: A true German muscle car. Of course, the Germans prefer to flex their muscles on the Nurburgring, and that’s obvious in the M2. The steering is perfectly sports-car heavy, with the front tires giving you noticeable feedback through the steering wheel. Like the steering, the brakes are supreme. The perforated rotors may dissipate heat well on the track, but they’ll mostly just look cool while your Bimmer is parked on the curb. The turbocharged 3.0-liter I6 produces good power down low, but starts to howl as the engine hits the rev-limiter. The result: an impressively quick and cool sounding sports coupe. The BMW M2’s only downside is its not-so-luxe guts. The interior seems cheap, considering the sticker price is hovering around $60k. The single USB port is tucked under the center console cover, and can get tangled in the parking brake. The seats are decently soft, but put your hip high in the car – making you feel more like you’re sitting on the interior rather than in it. If you had an E46 M3 and you sold it before the subframe liberated itself from the car, like this guy, and you’re thinking about getting another sporty Bimmer – this one might be for you. Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/car-reviews/2016-bmw-m2-dct-review-just-fun-paddles#ixzz4NvXljHEX



The M235i is a really delightful car -- one of the few new BMWs that I, a guy with no kids and non six-figure income, could see myself owning if I weren’t into stupid old land yachts. It’s balanced, responsive, natural; I don’t have a lot of experience with BMWs of the late 1980s/early 1990s, but the M235i gets closest to what I suspect brought yuppies to the marque in droves. The M2 could have easily screwed all that up for the sake of hypothetical lap times, and for that reason I’ve been a little hesitant to test it out despite (or because of) all the hype. But it didn’t. This has to be the all-around best M-car I’ve ever driven. Compare it to the M3, which is quicker, faster, more powerful, and so on. The M3 is undoubtedly a quicker car around the Nurburgring, which, as I understand it, is really, really important to all those guys squeaking their carbon ceramic brakes in Los Angeles traffic. It takes a while to adjust to the M3, and even after you’ve dialed up all your preferred suspension/throttle/shift point settings, etc, you have to push it really hard before everything begins to work in concert. South of that, it can be a clunky car. On the other hand, and except for the dopey gear selector (enough about that has already been said elsewhere), the M2 makes sense from the moment you hop in. The balance I so enjoyed in the M235i is still there, only there’s more power. Yet, importantly, not grotesque amounts of power. BMW could have cranked it up to something north of 365 hp, but I’m glad they didn’t. I’m kicking myself for missing out on the manual version when we had the keys earlier this year. The DCT is responsive, and only seems to get more responsive the more you get into the throttle, but I can’t help but wonder if halfway competent manual shifting would overcome that split-second lag when accelerating from a standstill. There are a few boy-racer concessions that I could do without (what’s with the goofy overwrought stack of vents on the lower half of the front fascia, for example?) but by and large it wraps its hardcore focus in fairly modest, handsome bodywork. I like fender flares, especially when they’re there to accommodate those wide rear tires. Everything is here for a reason. We talk a lot about the joys of driving slow cars fast, and how fast cars can be less-than-pleasant to drive slow (again, consider the M3). But this is an undeniably fast car that’s not a drag to drive at less than 9/10ths. It’s good on the streets, great on quiet higher-speed roads, and it can only get better than all that on the track. Now, if it didn’t feel like such a high-priced anomaly in the BMW Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/car-reviews/2016-bmw-m2-dct-review-just-fun-paddles#ixzz4NvXvtYle