The BMW M2 has already won some impressive awards, but on March 11, it picked up a biggie. Automobile Magazine named the BMW M2 as one of its six All Stars. The award was announced at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.
After thoroughly testing the M2 and all the other candidates on the streets of Las Vegas, during a climb up Mount Charleston, and on track at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Automobile editors decided that the M2's driving dynamics, agility, and balance earned it a spot among the elite new vehicles of 2017.
The editors admitted that lately, sporty BMWs like the M3 and M4 were not as engaging as previous BMW M cars, but that with the new M2, BMW demonstrated it was still capable of building cars that excited drivers and delivered on the company's promise of an engaging and fun driving experience.
At about 3,500 pounds, the M2 could have been lighter according to Automobile, but the turbocharged inline six delivering 365 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque was enough to overcome the car's heftiness and along with the manual six-speed transmission, made the M2 a pleasure to toss about. The $54,495 price tag was also a plus.
During 2016, Automobile tested 23 vehicles that were new, revised, or a new variant for the U.S. market. Six were chosen as All Stars.
Besides the M2, the other All Stars included:
Acura NSX
Chevrolet Bolt EV
Honda Civic Hatchback Sport
Porsche 718 Cayman S
Volvo S90
The seventeen models that were tested but were not selected for All-Star status included some very impressive machinery:
Bentley Bentayga
Audi A4
Toyota Prius Prime
Nissan GT-R Nismo
Cadillac XT5
Chrysler Pacifica
Jaguar F-Pace
Aston Martin DB11
Infiniti Q60
Mercedes-Benz E300
Genesis G90
Maserati Levante
Jaguar XE
Lincoln Continental
Ford Focus RS
Mazda CX-9
Cadillac CT6 3.0TT
In his review of the BMW M2 for Automobile's All Star list, Marc Noordeloos probably summed up best the feeling of the magazine's editors as well as thousands of loyal BMW enthusiasts when he wrote, "Please, please, BMW, remember the M2 when you develop future M models. You got this one right." Indeed.—Scott Blazey
[Photo courtesy of BMW AG.]
