Leaner, Meaner, Keener Bmw
The Age
Saturday January 31, 2004
Anybody paying $210,000 for a European coupe would probably expect a high degree of luxury in their new car. As well as above-average dynamics and performance, things like reclining seats trimmed in leather with electric adjustment, satellite navigation, a CD stacker, side airbags and a trip computer would all be part of the package, right?
Wrong. Well, wrong if the car in question happens to be the CSL version of the BMW M3. Although the CSL is priced a hefty $68,000 above the ``standard" M3 coupe, it gets none of the above. It is built specifically for performance, and in the name of lowering weight, much of the equipment taken for granted on expensive German cars has been left out. As Newton concluded centuries ago, acceleration is inversely proportional to mass.
Specialist sports car manufacturers every now and then produce models with one eye fixed more on race track success and pure performance rather than creature comfort. Good examples are the Porsche 911 GT3, which has more engine power than the standard 911 but also less luxury and weight.
More than a decade ago, Ferrari produced the turbocharged F40, with a carbon-fibre body and million-dollar price tag, but to open the doors you were expected to use a piece of string with all the technological wizardry of a farm gate.
The M3 CSL is a lot more advanced than that and, yes, it does have proper door handles. BMW's engineers have shaved weight from every conceivable area while retaining the 3-Series's steel body shell. So the standard boot-lid is replaced with one made of plastic, and bumper supports are made from carbon fibre-reinforced plastic, as is the roof panel. That latter move is an expensive one and only saves six kilograms, but benefits handling by removing kilograms high up on the body and thus lowering the centre of gravity.
So, at 1385 kg the M3 CSL weighs about 110 kg less than a normal M3, and modifications to the already highly-strung 3.2-litre six have increased power from 252 to 265 kW. BMW claims the CSL will hit 100 km/h from rest in 4.9 seconds. For customers with the right level of competition licence, BMW will remove the 250 km/h speed limiter and the CSL will do 280 km/h flat out.
The Phillip Island racing circuit was an excellent place to discover just how quick this car really is. Driven back-to-back with a regular M3, the CSL makes its porkier, less powerful cousin feel less nimble and strangely unexciting, given that up until now, the ``regular" M3 was the benchmark for performance coupes.
Fitted with thinly disguised Michelin racing rubber that barely lasts a day of track use and costs about $5000 a set to replace, the CSL has sensational grip levels, turning into corners at speeds where the normal M3 is starting to lose grip at the front-end while the rear wriggles and slides on softer suspension.
The engine mods have released a whole new world of sound, the new intake chamber emitting an insane bark under full throttle, while acceleration out of corners is as quick as any race driver could hope for - more than enough to take their mind off the lack of leather and premium stereo equipment.
© 2004 The Age