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Oct 28, 2023

2023 BMW M4 CSL at Lightning Lap 2023

It's the quickest BMW we've ever run around VIR, but we never got entirely comfortable with this machine. From the February/March 2023 issue of Car and Driver. Class: LL4 | Base: $140,895 | As-Tested:

It's the quickest BMW we've ever run around VIR, but we never got entirely comfortable with this machine.

From the February/March 2023 issue of Car and Driver.

Class: LL4 | Base: $140,895 | As-Tested: $145,395Power and Weight: 543 hp • 3580 lb • 6.6 lb/hp Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R; F: 275/35ZR-19 (100Y), R: 285/30ZR-20 (99Y)

Judged by the numbers, the BMW M4 CSL's 2:47.5 lap impresses. It is the quickest BMW we've tested at VIR, with the CSL outperforming the 627-hp BMW M5 CS and the track-focused M4 GTS that preceded it.

The 543-hp twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six is a ripper in this lightened M4. Stripped of rear seats and sound-deadening materials, and with more braces than a middle-school dance, this German muscle car weighs 3580 pounds and runs 158.8 mph on the Front Straight—we suspect this engine makes more power than advertised. A 760-hp Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 reached 161.9 mph with a 5.4-pound-per-hp ratio to the M4's 6.6.

Corralling all those ponies requires getting comfortable with the machine. You want a worn-in-Levi's feel, not that of a fresh pair of Wranglers. We never fully settled in, but that's not entirely the car's fault. A bolt punctured a rear tire before we started lapping, and we lost half a day of familiarization. The CSL is so new that finding a replacement BMW-spec Michelin Pilot Cup 2 R tire proved impossible, leaving us with three new tires and one slightly worn one for the final morning.

Even on the new tires, critical steering feedback remained distant and unable to report the distress of the tires when cornering, offering little sense of the limit through the wheel. The lateral grip is clearly felt through the carbon-fiber seat that holds like a bench vise, though the fixed buckets offer little adjustability. Changing the seat angle requires unbolting it from the floor, something we didn't have time to do. As a result, our Simpson Hybrid S neck restraint pressed against the seatback, making the driver hunch awkwardly. As with the SL, the driving position here left us wondering what we could've done with a bit more comfort.

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