The New BMW M2 CS Is A Nürburgring Record Holder

It feels like we’ve been writing a lot lately about Nürburgring production car lap records, sometimes quite niche ones. But these days, a good lap around the notoriously challenging German circuit is as much of a bragging right in the world of performance cars as 0-62mph times and top speeds, which is why some people in Munich will be quite pleased that, with a time of 7:25.534, the BMW M2 CS is now the fastest compact car around the ’Ring.

That’s ‘compact car’ by the Nürburgring’s own definition, a class that was once the hunting ground of various hardcore versions of front-wheel drive hot hatches like the Honda Civic Type R and Renault Megane RS.

For the last few years, though, it’s been the scene of a tit-for-tat between the all-wheel drive Audi RS3 and rear-drive M2, with different versions of those models now occupying the top four spots in the category. Until the announcement of the M2 CS’ lap today, the 7:33.123 time set last year by the updated third-gen RS3 was the one to beat.

Shaving nearly eight seconds off that time is no mean feat, but then with 523bhp from its 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six, the M2 CS has a handy 49bhp advantage over the standard car, and an even handier 129bhp one over the Audi.

It’s also 30kg lighter than the regular M2, sits 8mm lower and gets a bespoke spring and damper setup. Frankly, its 3.8-second 0-62mph dash and 188mph top speed mean this quote-unquote compact car is capable of the sort of numbers only the supercar elite were managing not that long ago.

The final piece of the puzzle was BMW M development engineer Jörg Weidinger, who piloted the car for its record run around the full 12.9-mile loop. Does an accolade like this matter in the grand scheme of things? Arguably not, but it’s an extra piece of pub/track day/online forum bragging material for anyone dropping £86,800 on an M2 CS.