There’s also the revised engine map to consider. It uses a piggyback ECU to drag power from 454bhp (or 473bhp in the facelifted M2) to 553bhp and torque to a pretty monumental 479lb ft. It makes the ACS2 Sport indecently quick – but then again so is the standard M2. You might notice the uplift with your foot flat on the way down an autobahn slip road, but in the UK you would be hard-pushed to enjoy the difference.
As with the touring-car canards, the wing and decals, we would leave modifications to BMW’s hulking ‘S58’ 3.0-litre six on the shelf.
So, wheels and suspension: that’s where the transformation lies. And it is a transformation. Aside from the small savings in the alloys, the ACS2 Sport weighs no less than the 1730kg M2, yet it moves with the innate dexterity of something closer to 1400kg.
You notice it straight away, the feeling that the vertical body control and steering response of a Porsche 718 Cayman S have been transplanted. The slack in the M2’s steering pick-up from any starting point has vanished. It’s the same with throttle sensitivity: in absolute terms, of course, it hasn’t changed a jot, but the reduction in body squat when you push on the pedal in effect shortens the car’s reaction time. Same story with braking.
The best bit is that none of this has been achieved by tying the chassis down to an absurd extent. The ACS2 Sport rides well. It’s a little more brittle and noisier than the languid original article on pocked stretches of road, but honestly, the difference is miraculously small when compared with the positives.
Know also that the M2’s palpable itch to indulge you with some benign oversteer is still there. It’s just that, with the ACS2 Sport, you’re dealing less with a tamed muscle car and more with a proper athlete. It is, in short, sweeter company.
Next year, BMW will launch its own hot M2, the CS. It will probably be outstanding, extremely expensive and sold out at the start. My advice? Buy a used M2 Competition and give Schnitzer a call.
