It's coming! The first test of the new BMW M3 and M4 tracks, a sneak peek!

[car home? Overseas test drive]? Since BMW unveiled the "4 Series Concept Edition" model at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 219, I have reminded you that all BMW models will be designed on this basis in the future. After BMW released the brand-new 4 Series coupe in early June, it was clear to everyone that all BMW midsize cars and their derivatives would introduce this large air intake grille at the front of the car. ? Following the appearance of BMW 4 Series Coupe, the high-performance version of M4(G82) and its sister model M3(G8) will also meet the world soon, and the muscular front nose will become the most conspicuous symbol of these power beasts. The brand-new M3/M4 model will be officially launched next year, and today we have the opportunity to drive its prototype test car. The author of this article Juergen? Zoellter, a senior German automobile journalist and freelance writer, can be called Zuo Yuede or Lao Zuo. Lao Zuo has worked in the automotive media for more than 3 years, and has driving experience in GP Grand Prix and Rally Racing. At the same time, he is also a judge of many international awards such as the World Car of the Year Award, the International Engine Award of the Year, and the International Automobile Testing Technology Award. He has contributed to many European media and is now a contributing writer in car home. This time, we are testing these two camouflage prototypes at Sachsenring circuit in the south of Berlin, Germany, where the development engineers of BMW M Department will also make the final fine adjustment of the chassis and optimize the software settings. These two controversial new cars will be officially released in September, and domestic consumers will have to wait until the autumn of 221 to take these two beasts into their pockets. Markus, the owner of BMW's M division subsidiary? Flasch said earlier that M3 and M4 are more different from BMW's own 3-series and 4-series basic models than ever before. Although he did not disclose the details of the appearance, we can clearly see that there are quite controversial giant kidney grilles in front of the front of the test car in the camouflage. People who don't like this design will even laugh at it as "the iron fence of two prisons". After careful observation, it will be found that there is a huge truss reinforcement structure hidden between the two headlights just behind the grille. The shape of the rear of the car is also more solid than the previous generation. Although it can't be seen carefully because of camouflage, it can still be found that there are two vertical passages under the huge bumper for ventilation of the rear brakes. As m? The symbol of the POWER model, the exhaust pipes with four sides are also essential, and there is a large diffuser with four fins in the middle. Two long and narrow taillights extend from both sides to the center of the luggage compartment cover, and this small duck tail spoiler on the luggage compartment cover is made of carbon fiber. Because the tail of M4 is relatively long, and the airflow is relatively stable compared with the short tail of M3, this tail will be a little smaller than that of M3. The tail on M3 will be steeper. The interiors of the two cars are also closely covered, so we can't observe too many details. The first thing that surprised me when I opened the car door was the dark instrument at the front of the steering wheel-it no longer has mechanical hands, but has completely turned into a liquid crystal screen, which can display information only after power is turned on. The other one and the existing m? The details of the POWER model are the new M sports steering wheel. Before pressing the start button on the center console, I need to press the clutch pedal first. Yes! This is a fun 6-speed manual gearbox, equipped with the entry-level model. Speaking of power system, Dirk, the development director of m department? H? According to cker, about half of customers (Germany) choose M4 with manual transmission. The reason is actually very clear: compared with the 8-speed automatic manual transmission, the short shift stroke and the mechanical feedback during gear meshing will make the driver more happy. Although the -1km/h acceleration performance of manual transmission models will be a few tenths of a second slower ..... what does it matter? Compared with the unique driving characteristics, people who really like driving will naturally ignore the disadvantages of acceleration. The 8-speed automatic manual transmission can be understood as M34i. Of course, a separate transmission oil cooler is added to M4 and M3. The new BMW M3 and M4 use S58 engine upgraded from B58 series engine, which is used for X3? M and X4? The one on the m. According to the development director of BMW Group, the proportion of common parts between this engine and ordinary B58 engine is even less than 1%. ? Even its displacement (2993cc) is 5cc smaller than that of the ordinary B58. Thanks to the 5mm shorter piston stroke, the engine was able to increase the speed to the limit of 72rpm. It should be further explained here that this engine is not a single turbine and double scroll technology on B58, but a double turbine design, that is, cylinders 1 to 3 and 4 to 6 correspond to a separate turbine, so the volume of each turbine will also become smaller. Correspondingly, due to the decrease of impeller inertia, the response of the turbine will be faster, which can obviously improve the torque response characteristics of the engine at low speed and low exhaust pressure. It is worth mentioning that in addition to the traditional rear-wheel drive, BMW will also provide four-wheel drive models on M3 and M4 for the first time. This system is the same as BMW M5, so M3/M4 will have better stability on wet roads. Engineers claim that in the acceleration of 1 kilometers, the four-wheel drive version will be .1 second faster than the rear-wheel drive version. Obviously, compared with the performance improvement, the change of drive form can't make us happy, even though this four-wheel drive system is based on rear drive like M5. It's time to talk about driving experience. First of all, we slowly left the track maintenance area. This twin-turbocharged six-cylinder engine can still hum a powerful but undisturbed voice at low speed. After driving on the track, I stepped on the full throttle! With the instant roar of the engine, the speed also quickly climbed to the red zone. Cut into the third and fourth gears, then brake hard at the end of the straight road, and then enter the first right turn after downshifting. In the corner, you can control the rear wheel to swim along the edge of the grip limit by briefly stepping on the accelerator without relying too much on direction correction. This kind of fun can be done all the time in the corner. Then return to the right direction and continue to move forward with full oil. Compared with the previous generation, the front wheel has a more radical negative inclination angle, so the lateral support of the front axle in the corner will be obviously improved, and the steering will become more accurate. This setting makes M4 less prone to understeer when entering the corner. There will be some tendency to oversteer when accelerating the turn, and this trend will become more and more obvious with the increase of the number of turns. The new twin-turbocharged engine responds to the throttle more quickly, and the electronic stability program is also very flexible when the vehicle tires reach the lateral limit. It is this fine-tuning that pushes the cornering limit of the new M4 to the peak and obviously surpasses the performance of the previous generation. It can be said that this is not only a fast track weapon, but also an easy-to-control performance sports car. For those drivers who want to enjoy driving but don't want to take excessive risks, they can use a stable program with SPORT+ mode. In this mode, the stability program allows the vehicle to drift at a certain angle, and it will only intervene to control the vehicle when the vehicle has an obvious tendency of losing control. This is the mode that allows the driver to drift easily and boost his self-esteem-although it is all thanks to the electronic control system. As mentioned earlier, BMW M4 has better aerodynamic characteristics than M3. In fact, among the two sister M models, it can be felt that M4 is undoubtedly the most sporty one. In addition, the two-door version also provides a lower sitting posture and center of gravity in driving dynamics. Of course, they all have carbon fiber roofs.

Summary Although the front face of this new generation M3/M4 has changed greatly, it will cause a lot of controversy. But there is no doubt that the new car has improved in sports performance. It becomes more powerful and easier to drive, while retaining the persistence and purity that a pure M model should have. More importantly, this M4 coupe with manual transmission and rear drive starts at 87, euros (about 69, RMB) in Germany. It not only has a lighter body than M3, but also is the most sporty model in this generation of M cars. As for the sister car M3, it will be several thousand euros cheaper than M4. By the way, a lighter and more extreme M4? CSL will meet you in 222. (Text /Juergen? Zoellter? Compile/car home? Jiang Yichen)