We’ve all read countless reviews of the BMW M4 GTS by now. Since its debut, it’s been an incredibly polarizing car, with many feeling that it’s the best BMW since the E46 M3 CSL and many feeling its just an uncomfortable M4. However, there are a few universal truths about the M4 GTS. It’s fast, it looks like a track car and it’s far more hardcore than the standard car. But, in regards to that last part, did BMW push it too far from the standard M4?
The folks from Car Magazine UK seem to feel so.
The regular ole BMW M4 is often criticized for being to safe, too soft and too numb. So for GTS duty, BMW amped the M4 up to 11 and it’s possible that it’s too much now. Its looks, while cool to many (including this child-like writer), it’s understandable how it can look like too much to others. It sort of looks like a crazy training shoe. With that massive rear wing, huge front lip and orange wheels, the M4 GTS never looks understated. It always looks as if it wants to rip your face off. Probably because it does.
It’s equally as manic on the inside as well. Most of the interior is stripped out, with the back seats replaced by a roll cage and the door panels devoid of any arm rests or speakers. It just can seem a bit much for a sports car. Plus, the lack of sound deadening makes it very, very loud on the inside. You’ll hear every pebble that hits the undercarriage and wheel well and the tire noise can become headache-inducing.
Admittedly, this is all done in the name of speed. On a track, the BMW M4 GTS comes alive and is oodles of fun. It’s crazy water-injected engine makes great power and the titanium exhaust makes a helluva racket. It’s exactly what track cars are supposed to be — wild, crazy fun. But the problem is that its fun ends when you leave the track.
Its suspensions is just too low and too firm to be enjoyable on everyday roads. It’s also too loud on the inside. Then there’s the fact that if the skies even permit a drizzle, the M4 GTS becomes a raging bull, bucking around all over the place in even damp conditions.
While the BMW M4 GTS does remedy a lot of the character loss of the standard car, it does so by sacrificing basically any of the creature comforts of the standard car, making it an entirely one-trick pony. And while that sort of car does have its place, and is excellent at it, it’s a car with such a singular focus. The brilliant part about the E46 M3 CSL was that it was still semi-usable on the road. Sure, it’s suspension was bumpier than the standard car and it was louder on the inside. But it didn’t go too far past the threshold of daily livability. According to Car Magazine, the BMW M4 GTS is a good car, but it’s gone too far the other way.
[Source: Car Magazine]
