Quote:
Originally Posted by SeanWRT
I met one of my m4 buddies to check out his recently installed LED MP steering wheel, and took the opportunity to use his m4 for a 30KM city+highway trip.
The comparison between the duo was debated to death and I am familiar with both already. Drove m4 from time to time. But back to back driving them did make more accurate impression, though no instrumental tests were performed.
M2 is bone stock power wise, but M4 is fitted with the Akrapovic Catback, which removes the two cats in the mid pipe from stock system. Both cars are on stock tune.
In the city, either in sport or sport+, m2 throttle is more direct most of time because the torque down low always comes faster and even stronger than m4. M4 responds just fine to the slight gas input, but when you seriously get on gas, downshifting or not, it has a slight hesitation before starts to push, which is a turbo lag indication as we reckoned. As the Odo climbed to 80~100KPH, or from mid range in 3rd, M4 is noticeably stronger and starts to pull away from there.
I rarely drive any of my other cars than the m2 since I took delivery of it. The moment I got into m4 cabin, I instantly feel 1) luxurious 2) roomy. It has beautiful Marino leather covered on dash and door panel, compared to which, the m2 interior just feels plain cheap. And the M4 skeleton racing seat is nothing short of gorgeous, a couple notches above m2's Dakota leather ones, though the support and comfort they offered are identical. I really wish I could pay to have all those options.
When cars are on the move, they pushes (when under 80KPH I'd say), steers and brakes identically. Only M4 felt just a little bit too big and the existence of its rear is annoyingly noticeable, exactly the same as my 328i. M2 is clearly much more planted, nimble and confidence inspiring when accelerating, carrying speed in corner or changing lanes. M4's long rear is always struggling to keep pace with its front end.
Now the sound, m2 was supposed to demolish m4 in stock form, but not when we were looking at the one that's fitted with the finest aftermarket system in the market. No doubt, Akra M4 sings at a much higher pitch everywhere it's revving and overall is a better sounding car than a stock m2, though to my surprise it doesn't burble & crackle at all, whichever mode you put it in. My buddy was super jealous when my m2, set to hidden mode or sport mode, burbled like a real beast.
At the end of the day, M2 is the clear winner by far in terms of "M"-ness and I don't think I am biased.
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Thanks for sharing. Great writeup. I didn't get to drive the m2 but when driving the first series m3 as much as I loved the luxury in the interior the car felt like a whale when handling around for the corners. My m2 should be here hopefully in March! Btw what us "hidden mode" don't think I'm familiar?