https://www.roadandtrack.com/reviews...ar-of-the-year
Here are some excerpts from article:
- BMW M4 CSL: No words, just letters and a number that mean so much in the 50th year of BMW M. The thing is, “CSL” is usually reserved for cars intended for the road first, track second. The Sport Cup 2 R tires here indicate otherwise.
Driven after something exceptionally nimble such as the Cayman GT4 RS, the M4 initially feels boatlike. A thing you sit atop, not in. This 543-hp, lightweight, rear-drive M4 pulls like the gravity on Jupiter.
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Lean into it with the traction control turned down, and the M4 CSL is a thrill. It has interstellar speed—the CSL, the Huracán Tecnica, and the Z06 were the only cars to exceed 140 mph—and it demands attention everywhere. You need to be active on the wheel, catching slides constantly on corner exits.
The steering is BMW’s new normal: overboosted with little feel yet accurate. Trust it and it rewards. This was our fourth-quickest car, running a 1:24.2. But honestly, it’s
a bit boring to drive below its limits. At lower speeds, an all-wheel-drive M4 Competition is nearly as quick and much cheaper.
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We still haven’t wrapped our brains around the M4’s nose job, either. That flared pig’s snout that overtook the 4-series is spreading throughout BMW’s lineup. Yet the real curiosity is the badge affixed to this M4’s trunk. The letters “CSL” have graced only the lightest, most focused versions of the best compact BMWs ever built, legends like the E46 M3 CSL and E9 3.0 CSL “Batmobile.”
- Like other M4s, the CSL plays drift missile in every corner, with accurate steering and a firm, unflappable chassis.
When the road is dry and the tires warm, no supercar will shake the CSL from its mirrors.
But despite a bump in power, a bit of weight shaved off, and some visual faff, the M4 CSL doesn’t do enough to separate itself from the standard M4.
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We want the old E46 CSL tricks applied to the new M4: even less sound deadening, an idiosyncratic intake note, zero embellishments, and no A/C or radio or lighted CSL badges in the headrests.
Every component of a CSL should make sense when viewed through the uncompromising lens of the phrase “The Ultimate Driving Machine.” This CSL couldn’t clear that hallowed bar.