Chris Harris Tests The BMW M2 | Top Gear: Series 23

[Music] if you lived in the 1990s and you wanted to buy a fast car but you couldn't afford a Porsche 911 he bought one of these a bmw m3 it was quick it was rear-wheel drive it was affordable issue most importantly on a wet roundabout it would do big skits fast-forward 20 years and you could still buy an m3 it looks like this yes it's very fast and very impressive but the m3 isn't willing m3 anymore it's become bigger more complicated much more grown-up so what do you want your m3 like they used to be this is the m2 named in honor of one of Ken's finest stretches of motorway not really it's called the m2 because it's based on the two series BMWs smallest cooper and what BMW is done here is actually quite old-fashioned just like that old m3 from the 90s there's a manual gearbox even have a paddle shift if you want but trust me we don't and just like that all then three from the 90s you get a three litre straight-six engine okay it's turbocharged now but that does mean 365 horsepower and nought to 60 in four and a half seconds a lot of modern turbocharged engines have clever software that limits the torque at low revs to stop you spinning the wheels and to make it more manageable the m2 however is not interested in manageable so that's the stuff that gives you the big shove in the back arrives at the 1,500 rpm and it stays there pretty much all the way you don't have to find the m2 sweet spot it's just there the whole time [Music] and with all this talk on tap you can slide about a bit a lot actually depends up bloke in the pub starts a fight with just about anyone for staring at you fight the wrong way you what are you looking at now admittedly this kind of attitude does tend to attract a certain type of buyer [Applause] there's no denying that fast BMW saloons still carry a faint suspicion of the mobile phone salesman done good about them actually have three different settings this dip beam main beam and get out of our way among business deal deal [Music] and image problems aside there were just a couple of other minor flaws complete geeks like me will notice that there is no oil temperature gauge I always thought em cars had to have a whole temperature gauge but this one doesn't nor is the gear knob illuminated I know you're shocked at the depths of my sadness on you but it's one of those cars that makes you qualify everything with her but what else can you get for the money and also what more can you expect [Music] well it's not often you introduce an Audi is the budget option but this is the rs3 it makes the same power as the BMW and at 40,000 pounds it's four grand cheaper because it's got four-wheel drive and get from nought to 60 much quicker in fact it'll get anywhere much quicker it is a deliriously stupidly fast car has bigger back seats - if you care about that sort of thing if I on paper it's just a winner we drive cars on paper welcome then to the top gear one corner challenge in just one single corner I'm going to demonstrate to you exactly why despite what the official stats might say the rs3 is not the better car which means I'll need to strap on the patented Top Gear phenomena 3000 harnessing science and numbers and stuff to actually quantify happiness there we go right then the audi rs3 and we've got understeer I'm using poppy 576 that's quite happy and now the m2 what did I score in the BMW one for there you have it the BMW makes you very much more happy in the corners there you are science [Music] it really is simply brilliant the m2 it takes you back to when driving was still brilliantly simple it takes you back to the 1990s in fact BMW has made a mistake here it's not really an m2 it's an m3 there you go you you

Channel: Top Gear

Views: 1,675,643

Rating: 4.6427851 out of 5

Keywords: chris harris bmw m2, bmw m2 chris harris, chris harris bmw, bmw chris harris, bmw test drive, test drive bmw, test drive bmw m2, bmw m2 test drive, top gear, topgear, bmw top gear, chris harris top gear, bbc top gear, top gear bbc, bbc

Id: YZdGvkPwsqE

Length: 7min 2sec (422 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 12 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/Gr3yGhost]

He really needs his own show.

[u/KeyboardGunner]

I lost it at the funometer 3000. Very amusing.

[u/mr_duong567]

That was awesome. Love Chris Harris and the production value!! It's pretty great that we have the usual Top Gear quality with Chris Harris, and we have the fun in Grand Tour with the old Top Gear crew. What a time to be a car lover.

[u/MusicPi]

Ooooh Radiohead opening song - Electioneering