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Drives: Z4 M40i
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: South Florida
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On the final straight to unique driving dynamics: The new BMW 2 Series Coupé.
At the end of its series development process, the new edition of the sports car in the premium compact segment completes its driving dynamics tuning and testing run. Production starts in late summer 2021.
The new BMW 2 Series Coupé is on the final stretch as it heads to the front row of the grid. The final phase of the series development process for the new edition of the BMW 2 Series Coupé has begun with the dynamic testing and tuning of its drive and suspension systems under racetrack conditions. The two-door compact sports car features numerous hallmark ingredients that are unique in the premium compact segment for achieving a sporty and emotional driving experience, which are carefully coordinated during the test drives. This is what underpins this car’s claim to taking pole position in its class. The unique selling points of the new BMW 2 Series Coupé in the competitive environment include the rear-wheel drive setup, an extremely powerful in-line 6-cylinder engine, the almost 50:50 balanced axle load distribution, an extremely torsionally stiff body and chassis technology consistently designed for agile and dynamic driving behaviour.
Sporty driving pleasure in the tradition of the BMW 2002.
The new BMW 2 Series Coupé, which will be manufactured from late summer 2021, is designed for uncompromising sporty driving pleasure. It continues the tradition of the brand's particularly driver-oriented, compact and powerful two-door models, which have been built since the legendary BMW 2002. In terms of power delivery, traction, cornering dynamics and handling precision, the new BMW 2 Series Coupé meets the needs of particularly discerning customers who are enthusiastic about unadulterated sportiness in a compact premium automobile.
During the development of the new BMW 2 Series Coupé, the test and tuning drives on the Nürburgring's Nordschleife serve as the ultimate test for wheel suspension, chassis, damping, steering and braking system. In addition, testing on public country roads around Munich and at the BMW Group test site in Maisach ensure that the dynamic driving qualities of the new BMW 2 Series Coupé can also be experienced in everyday traffic and under different road conditions. By extensively testing all drive and chassis systems, the development and test engineers ensure that the engine's performance characteristics go hand in hand with precisely controllable handling in every situation, fascinating cornering dynamics, optimised traction in all weather and road conditions and perfectly balanced ride comfort. At the same time, the car is fine-tuned to optimise self-steering behaviour and the dynamics when building up lateral acceleration forces. The power transmission to the rear wheels, which is unique in the segment of the new BMW 2 Series Coupé, is ideally suited to sporty, ambitious cornering including easily controllable drift manoeuvres.
BMW M version at the top of the model range.
The new BMW 2 Series Coupé's focus on maximum driving dynamics in the segment is embodied particularly by the BMW M version at the top of the model range. The BMW M240i xDrive Coupé top model (fuel consumption combined: 8.2 l/100 km, combined CO2 emissions: 186 g/km; provisional value according to WLTP) draws its drive torque from an extremely powerful in-line 6-cylinder petrol engine with BMW TwinPower Turbo technology. The drive, which is as spontaneously responsive as it is powerfully thrusty, generates a maximum output of 275 kW/374 hp and is combined with an 8-speed Steptronic Sport transmission. The BMW M model puts its power to the road using the intelligent BMW xDrive all-wheel drive system. The system's rear-wheel oriented design ensures hallmark BMW driving pleasure in conjunction with a power distribution that adapts perfectly to adverse road and weather conditions.
The driving dynamics tests also conducted on the Nürburgring, are ideally suited for refining the interaction of the all-wheel-drive system with the M sports differential in the rear-axle transmission. With a fully variable locking effect generated by an electric motor, the differential aids the new BMW 2 Series Coupé in optimising cornering performance with regard to traction and driving stability. The targeted distribution of power between the rear wheels enables significantly higher lateral acceleration and also a noticeable increase in dynamics when accelerating as you come out of bends.
Vehicle concept designed for driving dynamics.
Regardless of the engine, all model variants of the new BMW 2 Series Coupé benefit from a particularly torsion-resistant body structure. Static torsional stiffness has been increased by around 12 per cent compared to the predecessor model, for example through the use of dynamic driving struts in the rear of the vehicle, which contribute to the exceptionally high agility of the new BMW 2 Series Coupé. In addition, the vehicle concept, which is consistently designed for driving dynamics, offers significantly increased track width at the front and rear axles. This effectively reduces body roll and wheel load fluctuations during sporty cornering.
All model variants of the new BMW 2 Series Coupé are also equipped with stroke-dependent dampers as standard, the fine-tuning of which leads to a noticeably optimised balance between sportiness and ride comfort. They respond sensitively to slight road unevenness and compensate vibrations to optimise comfort. When driving over large bumps, the movements of the body are controlled by correspondingly higher damper forces. An Adaptive M Chassis is offered as an option for the new BMW 2 Series Coupé. Its electronically controlled dampers offer the option of activating the appropriate mapping for both sporty and comfort-oriented driving.
Precise steering, optimised aerodynamic properties.
The new BMW 2 Series Coupé is characterised by effortlessly controllable handling even in highly dynamic driving situations. In addition to the powerful and highly controllable brakes, the precise steering also characterises the handling of the two-door model. In addition to the balanced axle load distribution between the front and rear wheels, the model-specific design of the steering and the particularly high connection stiffness of the support bearings on the front axle contribute to this. Available as an option for the new BMW 2 Series Coupé, Variable Sports Steering combines further optimised precision when steering into bends with reduced steering effort when parking and manoeuvring.
The body design of the new BMW 2 Series Coupé not only reflects the brand's modern, clear and reduced design language. Only visible at second glance, but immediately noticeable during the high-speed test drives at the Nürburgring, the measures that help optimise the aerodynamic properties of the BMW M car in particular. In addition to a model-specific front spoiler lip, front splitter and air curtains, air deflectors, a tank and a rear axle cover as well as the contours of the air-flow-optimised driving dynamics struts on the underbody ensure that lift on the front axle has been reduced by 50 percent compared to the predecessor model.
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https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/globa...ies-coup%C3%A9
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230i and M240i xDrive Coupes to be launched first.
230i xDrive and M240i Coupes to follow.
Full start of communications and start of production in Summer of 2021.
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https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/usa/a...language=en_US
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Advance driving report: First drive in the new BMW 2 Series Coupé G42
Advance driving report: At the wheel of the BMW 230i and M240i xDrive, we were already able to collect our first driving impressions of the new BMW 2 Series Coupé G42.
The new BMW 2 Series Coupé G42 is faced with enormous expectations long before its market launch at the end of 2021: For many fans of classic sheer driving pleasure, the compact coupé is something like the last Gallic village in which (actually) completely dominated by front-wheel drive Compact class. Now that the last of the neighboring villages have also fallen in the recent past, the hopes of many driving dynamics fans rest entirely on the shoulders of the BMW 2 Series Coupé. We were recently able to find out how the lone fighter in the segment will fare for a first advance driving report on Bavarian country roads and on a closed route.
Fortunately, the Bavarians responsible for construction and coordination can rely on a proven recipe for their mammoth task that generations of BMW drivers have appreciated as the magic potion of driving dynamics: balanced weight distribution, rear-wheel drive and a longitudinally mounted engine at the front. After the 1 Series and other variants of the 2 Series were also converted to a front-wheel drive architecture, the future BMW 2 Series Coupé enjoys an exclusive special role without direct competition. We have already been able to find out which technology package the 2 Series actually offers and how it works.
The cluster architecture called CLAR, which is used in practically all models from the 3 Series, serves as the technical basis for the new BMW 2 Series Coupé G42. As the closest relative of the 2 Series, the developers see the 4 Series Coupé G22 rather than the 3 Series, after all, the two Coupés have some things in common. At a little more than 4.50 meters in length, the 2 Series is around 25 centimeters shorter than its big brother, but compared to the predecessor of the F22 generation, the Coupé has grown by a significant 10 centimeters.
In view of the larger dimensions and the well-known cause package of more comprehensive standard equipment, the fulfillment of more stringent crash test requirements and more complex exhaust gas purification, it is obvious that the BMW 2 Series G42 will certainly not be lighter than the previous generation. But dimensions and weight are not everything, as is well known, what is much more important is the actually perceptible driving behavior - and here the BMW 2 Series G42 seems to draw unimagined power from the burden of the great pressure of expectation.
The background to this is easy to explain: While the predecessor was technically largely identical to the 1 Series F20, which at least in its popular entry-level variants had to place greater emphasis on comfort than ultimate sportiness, the new BMW 2 Series G42 could be consistently trimmed for driving dynamics. Because one thing is clear: for all those who do not buy their compact-class BMW primarily for driving pleasure reasons, the 1 Series and 2 Series Gran Coupé have alternatives that are suitable for everyday use. However, whoever opts for the two-door 2 Series Coupé does so primarily because of the hoped-for and aggressively promised driving dynamics.
For our preliminary driving report, we first get behind the wheel of a heavily camouflaged BMW 230i with a turbo four-cylinder, which sends its around 250 hp exclusively to the rear wheels. As soon as you get in, it is noticeable that the seating position is similarly low as on the predecessor, which immediately sets it apart from the less sporty compact class representatives. While the four-cylinder 2 Series initially scores points with astonishing residual comfort on the winding country roads in the south of Munich, it also shows its agility in the first more swiftly driven corners: Compared to its predecessor, as with the M3 and M4, it is above all the front axle, which thanks to additional stiffeners and a full 52 millimeters of additional track width offers a considerably more willing turn-in behavior.
The new front axle geometry with a larger camber is also supported by the wider tires, which noticeably increase grip. On the driven rear axle, too, wider tires and a larger track width work hand in hand with the stiffer body and effortlessly enable significantly higher cornering speeds: where the predecessor slowly but surely started to sweat, the new BMW 2 Series G42 is only just warming up. The rear axle is just as rigidly connected to the body as in the Z4, after this solution had been discarded in the 3 and 4 series out of consideration for acoustic comfort.
If you don't overdo it with the cornering speed, you will always experience the 2 Series in an exemplary neutral manner, but of course the coupé can be persuaded to oversteer easily with more or less gentle pressure on the accelerator at any time. In this regard, the 2 Series is a whole lot livelier than the larger 4 Series, which in direct comparison almost looks like a Gran Turismo. In contrast, the smaller of the two coupés presents itself as a young savage with a real urge to move, without completely forgetting the good nursery.
Experienced drivers gain enormous confidence after just a few meters and can circling the G42 surprisingly effortlessly through almost every curve in a slight drift. Thanks to the significantly longer wheelbase compared to the Z4, the BMW 2 Series Coupé always looks good-natured and never excessively pointed or even poisonous. The ride in the compact coupé is like a reunion with an old friend who has been able to perfect his strengths in recent times: The 2 Series Coupé G42 is a typical compact BMW with sporty aspirations and thus the answer to a question which BMW was no longer able to give a convincing answer to all brand fans in the compact class.
Immediately after driving the 230i Coupé we are allowed to take the wheel of the next higher performance variant: Clear the stage for the new BMW M240i xDrive! Due to the strong camouflage of the prototype, it is mainly details that indicate the more powerful engine: Trapezoidal tailpipes at the rear reveal the in-line six-cylinder in the front, some M240i prototypes also have M exterior mirrors, as were previously reserved for the M2. But today it's not about the appearance, the focus is on the driving behavior of the little M440i brother.
Like the 230i, the new BMW M240i xDrive is emphatically cheeky and in many ways a bit wilder than the identically motorized 4 Series. Identically motorized? Yes, the M240i will also start with a full 374 hp and will not keep a respectful distance to the M340i and M440i! Just like the two mid-range models, it will also be equipped with xDrive all-wheel drive, but its set-up for the benefit of agility will be a little more rear-heavy. All fans of pure rear-wheel drive can already breathe a sigh of relief at this point: Yes, a little later, according to our information, the BMW M240i G42 will also be available without xDrive.
At the market launch, the BMW M240i G42 will always be sent out on the track with all-wheel drive, but that suits the compact sports coupé very well: while xDrive brings the power to the asphalt in a casual and confident manner and in conjunction with the standard eight-speed automatic for a sprint time from under 4.5 seconds from standstill to 100 km / h, the 374 PS and 500 Newton meters of torque are distributed more and more tail-heavy by choosing the sportier driving modes and deactivating the DSC.
Even in Sport mode, when DTC mode is activated, the rear noticeably cooperates at all times and pushes outwards with the appropriate pressure on the accelerator pedal. Anyone who is out and about in Sport Plus and DSC OFF feels at times like in a rear-wheel drive car - even if the additional traction of the driven front wheels naturally makes the M Performance 2 Series a good deal easier to control. The good news here is that the 2 Series does not move a millimeter away from its neutral to slightly oversteering basic setup, even with xDrive.
For fans of sheer driving pleasure, the rear-wheel drive M240i (or the later BMW M2 G87 ) will undoubtedly be the better option, because of course it demands and rewards driving skills even more than the all-wheel drive. For everyone else who just wants to get from A to B very quickly and dynamically, the rear-heavy xDrive design will never be a problem.
Anyone who does not define driving pleasure and driving pleasure by the values on the stopwatch should definitely also take a look at the upcoming BMW 230i: The four-cylinder not only offers classic rear-wheel drive, it is also one thanks to the smaller engine and the lack of all-wheel technology a good deal lighter on the front axle and therefore steers in even more enthusiastically than the naturally much stronger and therefore faster M240i.
Perhaps the hardest to digest news about the BMW 2 Series G42 concerns the market launch, because contrary to what had been hoped, the compact coupé will not reach a single European customer this year: The overarching goal of production close to the largest single market leads to that the G42 will be built exclusively in the Mexican plant in San Luis Potosí from late summer. From there it will make it onto the US market in November, but it will not arrive in Europe until January 2022.
But what is even more important is that the automotive equivalent of the Gallic village will confidently defy the numerically far superior front-wheel drive vehicles in the compact class in the years to come. The recipe for success from Munich has lost none of its effect since the BMW 2002 - and secretly we can already look forward to the explosive magic potion M GmbH is currently brewing for the next M2.
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(Google translation.)
https://www.bimmertoday.de/2021/05/1...2er-coupe-g42/
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Remarkable: The Munich-based company forego hybridization: almost all of the inside of the new BMW 2 Series Coupé (2021). Only the diesel should be mildly hybridized, that's it.
The first test drive with the new BMW 2 Series Coupé (2021) impressively demonstrates that BMW knows exactly what the fans of the brand want: emotional, dynamically savvy vehicles with rear-wheel drive or at least a rear-biased design and straight-line six-cylinders.
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(Google translation.)
https://www.autozeitung.de/neues-bmw...pe-200171.html
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Not until July will BMW defoliate the two-person coupe.
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(Google translation)
https://www.welt.de/motor/news/artic...0i-xDrive.html
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Last edited by BMWGirlFL; 05-17-2021 at 05:55 AM..
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