Last summer, the Sport Auto team did a lap around the Nurburgring at a full pace to see how fast the BMW M4 Competition can go at the famous track. The team used the rear-wheel-drive variant of the model and it did surprisingly well, registering a time of 7 minutes and 30.79 seconds. When we wrote about that ‘Ring run almost eight months ago, we knew the M4 Competition could do even better, though.
In a new video from the Green Hell, the same YouTube channel takes us for another lap behind the steering wheel of the performance sports coupe from Germany. This time around, however, the weather conditions are better and, most importantly, the car used in the new video has its four wheels channeling the power from the 3.0-liter turbocharged engine. Is that enough to beat the previous time?
Gallery: 2022 BMW M3 Competition xDrive and M4 Competition xDrive
Absolutely. The M4 Competition xDrive laps the Nurburgring in 7 and 28.57 seconds, thus being more than two seconds faster than its RWD brother. Both cars made their laps running on the same Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires but the AWD model had fewer struggles to find traction in corners. It’s worth mentioning that the new time is actually better than what the BMW M5 CS is capable of with its lap in 7 minutes, 29.5 seconds. Impressive!
The dry numbers show that the M4 Competition has the same power output regardless if it is in RWD or AWD form. Both cars rely on the same 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six engine, good for 503 horsepower (375 kilowatts) and 479 pound-feet (650 Newton-meters) of torque. The xDrive version is slightly heavier at 3,913 pounds (1,775 kilograms) versus 3,700 lbs (1,700 kg) for the RWD sibling. The top speed is identical at 180 miles per hour (290 kilometers per hour) when the car is equipped with the M Driver's Package.
BMW is expected to launch an even more hardcore version of the M4 later this year in the form of the new M4 CSL. It will be more powerful and lighter than the Competition trim, though it is likely going to be rear-wheel drive only. It will be very interesting to see whether it will be faster around the Nurburgring than the M4 Competition xDrive.
