After speaking with Matt Russell, BMW North America’s M Brand Manager and Thomas Schemera, Director of BMW M Marketing over a delicious smoothie, we were able to learn more about BMW’s M6 Coupe and its place in the lineup. Several key details were shared and they help to highlight why the M6 Coupe should be at the top of your Christmas wish list, and why, finally, you should impress Santa with your good boy or girl behavior through to December.
What separates the M6 Coupe the most from its M5 and M6 Cabriolet siblings, is its dynamics. The whole focus of M cars is on dynamics, and thus, the fact that the new M6 will be the highest performing M car on sale is quite significant. For those wondering – the M6 could be considered a supercar at some level, at least that’s what BMW would have us believe. Consider this recently published editorial that digs deeper into the super car topic.
BMW considers the Audio R8 V10, Porsche 911 Turbo, Maserati Granturismo, and Mercedes SL 63 AMG and SLS as competition to the new M6. We will have to compare performance figures and driving experiences before drawing any conclusions or awarding a victor, but the fact that such name plates are being spoken of in the same sentence as the letter M and number 6 bodes well for the new BMW performance car.
With 560 hp churned out by the same power-plant as found in the F10 M5, the M6 will be able to take advantage of its decreased curb weight and lower center of gravity. A carbon fiber roof plays its part in this dynamic.
The new M6 Coupe will sport a wheel base approximately 4.5 inches shorter than the M5, which will bestow upon it much more reactive, agile handling.
The new carbon ceramic brake discs measure 16 inches in diameter (!) and are so big that the 20 inch wheel option must be ordered with the ceramic brake package to accommodate the rotors. The standard M compound brake system, standard on the M5 and M6 cars, is a 15.5″ rotor system. The carbon ceramic brake option – despite being larger in diameter – decreases total unsprung mass by 19.4 kg (42.8 lbs) – a significant weight reduction.
The M6′ front splitter, flat underbody, roof contouring, and rear differential hint towards the advanced aero of the M6. In fact, the new M6 sports one of the most highly developed aero package of any M car to date. In the words of M, “Every last detail has been aerodynamically sculpted – function first.” Those words, to my mind, are automotive poetry.
With a reduced curb weight (vs the M5) of only 1850 kg (4078 lbs) – impressive for a sports car casting such a large shadow – we expect the M6 to turn in a 0-60 time of 3.6 seconds or better. This places it firmly in supercar acceleration territory – our first drive on the racetrack will confirm whether or not the M6 can, in fact, be crowned a halo supercar for the brand.
