Despite having two less cylinders, the BMW M4 Coupe is much quicker round the Nürburgring Nordschleife than its predecessor, the E92 BMW M3 Coupe. German magazine Sport Auto took the M4 to the “Green Hell” and found out that it is quicker than the M3 Coupe by 13 seconds.

The BMW M4 lapped the Nürburgring in 7 minutes and 52 seconds, compared to the M3 Coupe’s time of 8 minutes and 5 seconds. BMW M confirmed the news on its Facebook page and said the lap time was set using street-legal tires. Given the M4’s lap time, I can’t help but appreciate Renault’s 7:54.36 time with the front-wheel drive Mégane RS 275 Trophy-R.

Despite losing two cylinders, the BMW M4 is more powerful and has more torque than the V8-powered M3 Coupe. The 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six cylinder engine produces 425hp (431PS) at 5,390 rpm and 406 lb-ft (550 Nm) of torque from 1,800 rpm to 5,390 rpm. While power levels are not much improved (only 11hp more), torque is up an impressive 40 percent. Furthermore, a standard M4 Coupe is 83 kg (183 lbs) lighter than a standard M3 Coupe (1,497 kg vs. 1,580 kg).

The BMW M4 sprints from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.1 seconds in combination with the seven-speed M double clutch transmission and reaches an electronically-limited top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph). Choosing the optional M driver’s package unlocks top speed to 280 km/h (174 mph).

By Dan Mihalascu

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