BMW'S M4 CSL IS ONCE AGAIN CONFIRMED AS THE AUTOMAKER'S FASTEST PRODUCTION MODEL AT NüRBURGRING
When BMW chucks in the letters C, S and L to a model’s nameplate you can bet your bottom dollar that the car in question will be something quite special. The BMW engineers left the BMW M4 in the hands of the highest-paid men in white coats at M Division and the result is the amazing BMW M4 CSL. The car is lighter, faster and has much more precise handling as well as the obligatory matching price tag. Prospective buyers already knew the M4 CSL was properly fast thanks to the performance figures BMW themselves released when the car was first launched. Being a track-focused car when all the details were revealed, the automaker included a whole host of performance stats, more so than they do with other models. With BMW’s own test pilot at the helm, the BMW M4 CSL managed to post a record-breaking run on the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife circuit, so fast in fact that the car was crowned as the fastest BMW production model to date - which says a lot about the car and its capabilities. Acceleration figures posted were a 0-100 km/h dash of 3.7 seconds, it took just 10.7 seconds for the sprint from 0-200 km/h, and topped out at an electronically governed top speed of 307 km/h. You can’t argue with those figures at all. Jorg Weidinger posted a lap time of 07:15.67 around the Nürburgring. The official and notarised lap time for the 20.832 km circuit (the complete lap) was 07:20.207 sec, but on the version of the track used for comparison purposes which is 20.600 km long and doesn’t include the straight at section T13 – it stopped the clock at the faster time.
At the hands of Sport Auto’s test driver, Christian Gebhardt, the publication managed to prove that the BMW M4 CSL is a serious weapon in the hands of any competent driver. The man exploited every bit of the high-revving, twin-turbocharged 6-cylinder and all 405 kW / 650 Nm on tap. Well, those are BMW’s figures. Sport Auto strapped the car to a dyno as part of the testing and it turns out the BMW M4 CSL makes more power than claimed - not unusual for something from M Division. Sport Auto’s testing revealed 425 kW with 708 Nm of torque. The car also managed to get within 10km/h of the 307km/h top speed - on a circuit. The car was using Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tyres that are clearly worth their high price tag, but when the M4 CSL is the best from the BMW stable it makes sense to have some of the world’s best rubber in each corner. As you’ll see in the video, Christian is an absolute beast at the wheel, and it’s not really possible to fault his driving and his approach to the track and that got the CSL impressively close to BMW’s official time by lapping the ridiculously-challenging Green Hell in a fast time of 07:17.08 seconds.This is a car in stock form, and experience tells us that at least 95% of BMW M car owners modify things, so we may well be seeing a privately owned M4 CSL doing even better, if the right driver can be tasked with the mission.
Take a look at the YouTube video that shows the absolutely mind-boggling in-car footage of Sport Auto’s test driver Christian Gebhardt going flat-out in the BMW M4 CSL - best watched in full screen with your face as close to the screen as possible: BMW M4 CSL | Nordschleife HOT LAP 7.17,08 min | sport auto Supertest | sport auto
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