You Can Now Drive The BMW M2 CS Virtually In The Crew Motorfest

With updates for Forza Horizon 5 long having come to an end and Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown remaining an ongoing series of disappointments, The Crew Motorfest could well lay claim to the crown of being the open-world racer of the moment.

The arrival of Forza Horizon 6 at some point this year is likely to put an end to that, but Motorfest still has plenty going for it, including a strong relationship with car manufacturers that’s seeing it be the first game to bring plenty of the most sought-after new performance cars to home consoles.

Already, it’s given gamers the chance to virtually drive the Ferrari F80 and Lamborghini Temerario well before Gran Turismo, Forza or any of the other big hitters have got there, and now joining those ranks is the BMW M2 CS.

A harder, more focused version of BMW’s baby M car, the new CS packs a 49bhp boost over the standard car, taking its 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six to 523bhp, as well as a 30kg weight reduction and a more aggressive suspension setup.

It arrives in Motorfest as the latest update as part of the game’s Season 8, which brings a wider celebration of Munich’s past and present machines in the form of a new BMW-themed event Playlist. Other debuting machinery includes the brand’s current top-flight endurance racing challenger, the M Hybrid V8, which you’ll need to buy to take part in the Playlist; and the legendary bewinged 3.0 CSL ‘Batmobile’ racer from the ’70s, which you’ll get as a reward for completing it.

Support for Motorfest is far from over, either. The Season 9 content will begin rolling out in March, bringing a track creator, a new stunt-themed island to the game’s open-world, and a partnership with NASCAR, among other things. It all means that, while we’re fairly sure Horizon 6 will be the open-world racing game to beat when it finally launches, it won’t have things all its own way.