Some of the racers who drive BMWs in the DTM series apparently got their hands on the new 2016 BMW M2 before it was revealed to the public last week. Augusto Farfus had his turn behind the wheel of the M2 at the Salzburgring in Austria.
Naturally, BMW filmed the session. While it would still be very exciting and entertaining if it were just normal, in-car video, it is not. Normal, in-car video, that is. Instead, BMW shot the session in 360° video.
If your web browser supports 360° video—you will need the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, or Opera; Safari won’t work—you will be able to look up, down, and all around the inside of the M2 while Farfus does his hot lap. Even more fun might be watching the video on a large-screen smartphone with the latest YouTube app. If you go that route, you might as well go all the way and watch the video while in a swivel chair. It will make rotating the view much easier and more comfortable.
The new M2 is not a DTM racecar, but as a street car, it still has the proper attributes for having a blast on the track. It’s not a huge car, it’s nimble, very well balanced, has good power for the weight, the brakes are big, and it has a tuned M suspension lifted pretty much from the M4. If you can’t have fun on the track with all that, check your pulse.
Most of us will not have the opportunity to test drive the M2 until next spring, and even then, it may be a while before the initial demand eases enough for dealers to have an unsold M2 on the lot. Until then, this 360° video may be the best taste we can get—Scott Blazey
[Photo courtesy of BMW M.]
Visit this link or cut and paste it into the latest version of web browsers Chrome, Opera, or Firefox to view the 360° video: https://youtu.be/TLoQrStd4rs
To watch the video on an iOS or Android smartphone, open the YouTube app and search for “BMW M2 (360° video).
