The new BMW M2 has been confirmed for its debut on October 11 this year and it will likely hit showrooms sometime in the first quarter of 2023. A more hardcore version of this car is apparently already in development, getting potentially a CS or CSL badge and get significant hardware upgrades over the standard M2. We don’t have any spy photos of the hotter M2 yet, but a new report sheds more light on what we might expect.
Coach saw an early prototype of the hardcore M2 with a more aggressive front fascia and additional rear spoiler. The UK publication was able to get some preliminary information and it looks like the M2 CS/M2 CSL will be getting a more powerful version of the manufacturer’s 3.0-litre twin-turbo S58 engine. Take the following numbers with a grain of salt but Coach claims that the engine output could be 473 horsepower (353 kilowatts), which matches the base version of the current M4.
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If that power figure is correct, that would mean the hardcore M2 will be 29 hp (22 kW) more powerful than the base M2, which will have 444 hp (331 kW). Power will be sent to the rear wheels only via a modified version of BMW’s eight-speed automatic gearbox. By the way, a recent leak hinted at an all-wheel-drive version of the G87 M2, but that has yet to be confirmed.
Not much else is known at this time, but Coach also reports that the M2 CS / M2 CLS might be lighter than the standard M2. We may also see some tweaks to the suspension setup and possibly a more aggressive aero package, but that guess is based purely on how the F87 M2 CS was lighter and aerodynamically modified compared to the M2 Competition it was based on. .
There’s no firm timeline for the new M2 hardcore yet, but we don’t expect to see it in 2022 or next year. BMW is currently focused on launching the “standard” version of the hot hatch and we expect to start hearing more information regarding the CS/CSL variant in the coming months.
