The BMW M4 GTS -Spartacus

The Thracian Gladiator

The BMW M4 GTS is the true personification of BMW’s eternal slogan, “The Ultimate Driving Machine. There has long been a yearning desire for BMW to step up to the proverbial plate and put their money where their mouth is and develop a proper race vehicle. A race vehicle that is reserved for the ultimate M fanatic to utilise and embrace on a racing circuit, and of course South Africa’s speed limiting freeway’s, if they dare. From an external perspective, you would look at it and label it “for track only”, until you get into it, start it and get thumped by the overwhelming blare that resonates from underneath its lightweight carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) hood. BMW Motorsports ambitious attempt to develop a vehicle that will make M fanatics feel young again, can definitely be classified as a major success as all 25 allocated units where spoken for months before the vehicle was launched.

God of the Arena

The BMW M4 GTS is an attempt to bring some excitement to the world of M cars and prove to the automotive world that BMW Motorsport still has the know how to manufacture extremely exhilarating race vehicle’s. The M4 GTS represents characteristics of the notorious Spartacus, a Thracian gladiator who led his peoples escape from slavery during the Third Servile War against the Roman Republic. Much like Spartacus, the M4 GTS has relieved M fanatics from the proverbial drought of a respectable racing vehicle. The M4 GTS has a clear mission to be the most ferocious M vehicle on the road, leading from the front and providing a clear vision of where BMW Motorsport is heading. This M vehicle is like no other, it's tenacious in its approach to the road, providing the driver with a firm ride and even better cornering capabilities, with its low centre of gravity, clinging onto the road similar to Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s attempt to hang on to his job by challenging the ruling of the court which saw him permanently axed from the SABC.

The M4 GTS has received a lot of criticism with regards to its hard to swallow shade of orange, the lack of interior features such as front speakers and door handles, and finally the humongous carbon wing. Some people have even labelled it as looking like a tuned up M4 that costs almost double that of an original M4. While all the above might be true, this perception of the M4 GTS was probably created by individuals who haven’t driven this magnificent racing vehicle.

Being in the presence of this intimidating Frozen Dark Grey Metallic work of art, with its flamboyant Acid Orange parts is by no means an unsatisfying experience, let alone driving it. The interior represents the childhood dream which every boy experienced during his adolescence, with its weight optimised centre console, Alcantara trim finishes boasting fine detailed dark grey stitching, suede M-sport steering wheel, M4 GTS leather bucket seats, and finally the M striped door handle loops. The M4 GTS interior embodies the exact image young men had when they attempted to build a racing vehicle out of a card board box in their back yards, fantasising about how their dream racing car would look like, without the 10.2-inch high-resolution full-screen navigation display that is.

The M4 GTS rewrote the Oxford dictionaries definition of excitement, with its fun filled, 368 kW 3.0 l M TwinPower Turbo 6-cylinder engine. It boasts a 7-speed double-clutch transmission specifically designed for the BMW M high-rev engine. A subject that I haven’t touched on which I am specifically excited about is the water injection system. This system allows the engine to cool and condense the charge air resulting in a fresh high pressure turbo boost. So, the downfall is that it needs to be topped up with water every 3-4 petrol tanks, but to be quite frank if this car exists in your garage, you might have a lot of problems, but negativity is not one of them. The cool thing about this vehicle is that there is quite a bit of adjustable settings on this extraordinary beast, the M-specific 3-way coilover suspension provides you with the option of lowering the suspension up to 20 mm in the front and 17 mm at the rear, furthermore, it also allows you to adjust the damping according to your current driving situation. Finally, the compression levels can also be adjusted, which allows you to determine the speed of the compression rate.

The M4 GTS is constantly being compared to the normal M4 variant, whether it is on looks, features or pricing, so, just to break it down for you, the GTS gets to the 100 mark 3 seconds faster than its little brother. This number might prove to be too much for Pres. Jay Z to pronounce, but to further make my case, the GTS rockets around the Nürburgring 24 seconds quicker than its sibling. The GTS posts a time of 7 minutes and 28 seconds which is quicker than a Ferrari 458 Italia and way faster than the Porsche 911 GT3 RS which its constantly being compared to, about 20 seconds, just to gloat. While my words may not prove to be convincing, the data I provided above should be.

The M4 GTS is one of the most exhilarating vehicles I’ve driven in my entire life, its dramatically quick off the line, precise in its cornering, and ridiculously good looking.  It's a vehicle that makes you grin and experience the feeling you get when you’ve received the yellow cap on Superbru for predicting the correct rugby score lines. It stands out above the rest, not only in its features and its respectable engine performance, but in the way it gives passing traffic whiplash in awe of its brilliance. The M4 GTS, Spartacus of the modern-day freeway gives joy a new meaning. It is in essence the true "Ultimate Driving Machine."

Till we meet again M4 GTS, god of the arena…