Pikes Peak is the ultimate test of car’s abilities. Fourteen thousand feet of elevation; 156 turns. It’s arguably one of the most grueling motorsport endeavors on the planet. This year, one intrepid team will take the G87 BMW M2 – arguably the Ultimate Driving Machine – to the ultimate hill climb event to pursue the production vehicle record.
Tyspeed Tackles the Hill Climb
Tyspeed, a New Jersey based BMW-centric race team and performance shop, is building the ultimate “production class” G87 for the 103rd Running Of the Famous Hill Climb. If the name sounds familiar, well, it should. You may recognize the owner and team principal, Typer Pappas, as he’s certainly no stranger to racing quick BMW M2s or Pikes Peak. The team’s original F87 M2 – which dropped 460 pounds from the stock car and churned out over 500 rear-wheel horsepower – ran a rain and hail stricken course back in 2019.
Their final result, given the horrendous conditions that day – was 45th overall and tenth in division at a time of 12:26 , and needless to say – he’s likely shooting for better than that this time around. The team has two successful summits under their belt, (2019 in the F87 and 2022 in an E92 M3) – experience that will likely aid them in improving their standings and tackling their goal of a 10 Minute or under run, as well as the Production Vehicle Record for 2025.
The last time the team built an M2, they pulled out all the stops. Pappas and the team went to painstaking lengths to ensure the car was built properly, going so far as to source a BMW M factory racing carbon center console, Full wind tunnel tested aero, a custom built cage, and literally tens of thousands of dollars of modifications later, their M2 was ready to compete!
G87 M2 Project On The Way
We have to imagine they’ll go to similar extremes to build this G87 M2 up, and we can’t wait to see what the team has planned. Perhaps a set of those pricey center locking BMW wheels we keep hearing about? Either way, the project is underway- and the team has already stripped the car down and prepared it for its full Pikes Peak Spec Roll cage. Plans are to feature the full Catalog of BMW M Performance parts, and a variety of “class legal enhancements” to ensure the desired result of a 10 minute or under run to the summit for 2025!
The team is still looking to round out the effort with some additional partners for the program – so If you’d like to be a part of what could be a historic BMW moment, be sure reach out to Ty on the shop’s Instagram page – @tyspeed – or at the very least, give them a follow to see how the G87 chapter unfolds. [Photos provided by Tyspeed and Vincent Nardone/Petrolhead Studios]
