You’ve probably already heard of the BMW M4 GTS by now. If not, it’s a hardcore, track-oriented version of the BMW M4 that has no back seats, a standard roll cage, manually-adjustable dampers and a massive freaking wing. It looks awesome, sounds awesome and drives awesome. It’s awesome, if you hadn’t guessed. However, it isn’t just an M4 with a big wing and some orange shoes slapped on. Oh no, it’s far more technical than that. Car and Driver gets down into the nitty-gritty details of what makes the M4 GTS so hardcore and…awesome.
We already knew that BMW had replaced much of the interior bits with carbon fiber and microsuede, to make it lighter. But there are some other details we didn’t know, such as why the cloth door pull is there. If you were wondering, it’s there so that a fully harnessed driver could pull the door closed, as they otherwise wouldn’t be able to. Also those fantastic-looking one-piece seats that you always see in the pictures won’t be coming to the North American market because ‘Merica. Though we do get the kick-ass orange roll cage as-standard, while the Europeans do not. We’ll call that a draw, Europe.
The first thing everyone notices about the M4 GTS is its massive rear wing. However, what many may not know is that it is manually-adjustable, with three different positions. In its most aggressive position, it can provide 210 lbs of downforce at 183 mph. The front orange splitter can also be extended up to 2.4 inches, but only do that on a track because you’ll rip it off on road bumps. When fully extended, it can provide 63 lbs of downforce at 183 mph.
In this detailed look at the M4 GTS, you also get a look at the water-injection system. We’ve heard a lot about BMW’s water-injections system before. Essentially, it sprays a high-pressure mist of water into the intake plenum. At 145 psi, that mist turns to vapor from the heat and the energy of that change cools the combustion chamber down dramatically. That allows for BMW to increase turbo boost pressure from 17.2 psi to 21.6 psi, without risk of engine knock.
We get to see the water injection take and pump under the trunk mat in these pictures. According to BMW, the system works in temperatures as low as 41 degrees Fahrenheit. But if you run the car without the system, the engine reverts back to Competition Package spec, with 444 hp. With the system engages, the M4 GTS makes 495 hp.
We even get a look at the tools for the manually-adjustable suspension and how to actually adjust it. This is every gearhead’s dream, to be able to lower their coilovers themselves. There are also adjustments for the compression damping on both the front and rear suspension.
For car nerds, this stuff is nirvana. It’s the sort of techy nerd stuff that all of us gearheads love to see and read. So if you like the BMW M4 GTS, check this out.
[Source: Car and Driver]
