BMW M3 GTS: Hard, loud and fast

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"Look out for the orange groves there. They make a splendid sight." A friend who'd been to Costa del Sol recently raised my already high expectations about a part of Europe I've never seen before. With the happy picture of a sun-kissed coast blanketed with oranges in full bloom in my mind, I looked down eagerly as the plane approached Malaga, the famed holiday hotspot in southern Spain. But what I saw from my hotly contested window seat was a bit of a let-down. A town with scorched, rocky undulations lining the Mediterranean Sea that looked as tired and aloof as the travel-weary journos on-board.

OK, maybe I was prejudiced and it wasn't as dry as it seemed from the air once we were on the road to Ronda. There was a lot of greenery around and we passed scores of farms with thousands of trees. But where were all the oranges?

I would know only an hour and a half later, when BMW revealed its extreme, and most exclusive M3 to date at the Ascari Race Resort. It seemed the guys took all the oranges from the Sun Coast to Garching to give the M3 GTS its coat that burnt brighter than the hot Spanish sun. However much you're willing to pay extra, you can't have this special edition car in any other colour but the one you see here. In fact, you, the Middle East millionaire, can't even have it in orange, as the 150 hand-built examples have already been sold to customers in Europe and the US. It's a shame that we don't have one coming this side, but even those who've paid for it will get behind the wheel only by the beginning of next year, while here you are reading all about how it drives — and around one of the most exclusive tracks in the world, to boot.

One look at it, and you know the M3 GTS means business. There's no mistaking the fact that this stripped-out version is a purely track-orientated car. The suspension has been lowered by 16mm in the front and 12mm at the rear, an orange-painted roll cage and FIA-approved Recaro racing seats are standard, as is a front splitter, a massive adjustable rear wing and the 19in black alloy wheels. The M boffins have managed to cut 70kg from the M3's bulk by doing away with the AC, the music system and the rear seat, using polycarbonate rear and side windows, lightweight door cards and stripping the centre console bare. Although the dashboard is trimmed in carbon fibre, the standard M3 instruments are left unchanged.

The capacity of the V8 lump under the bulging bonnet has been bumped up from 4.0 to 4.4-litres, resulting in an output increase of 30 horses from the E92 M3's 420bhp, while torque goes up from 400Nm to 440Nm and is available at 3,750rpm as opposed to 3,900 revs in the standard version. The weight-to-power ratio has been kept at a low 3.4kg for every horsepower, while the seven-speed M dual clutch transmission has been optimised to match the revised engine configurations.

All these changes translate into making the GTS the fastest road-legal M3 ever, with a 0-100kph sprint taking just 4.4sec and a top speed of 305kph.

Nothing I've driven before betters the glorious V8 rumble that emanates from the GTS's lightweight titanium exhausts. It sets your heart pounding in excitement even before you put your right foot to the pedal. The fact that there's no climate control adds to the aural pleasure as the windows need to be rolled down.

After the customary couple of laps crawling behind the safety car, an M6, we were left on our own to tackle the 26 corners, straights and a couple of treacherous inclines in Dutch billionaire and car nut Klaas Zwart's playpen.

The suede steering wheel feels heavy in the beginning but proves to be precise and razor sharp as the car gains speed.

And boy, does it gain speed. The acceleration is brutal; the throttle response immediate. As the V8 revs merrily through to eight grand and the car gathers pace, the prowess of the chassis becomes apparent. The lower, stiffer suspension helps keep the sticky Pirelli PZero Corsa rubbers planted to the track, and eggs you on to push the limits. And these limits seem surprisingly attainable in this car, even if you're no Formula 1 driver. The GTS is a car that instills enough confidence in you to go faster and will not fling you off the track into the countryside unless you do something terribly wrong. Body roll is almost non-existent and it hugs the tarmac like a gecko. Equally impressive are the upgraded brakes in the GTS that bring the 1.5-tonne chunk of metal and carbon fibre to a halt, when and where you want it to.

The blunt sense of speed, superb dynamics and the infernal snarl that reverberate through the hills girdling the track, make driving the M3 GTS an absolutely intoxicating experience. After seven laps around the 5.4km circuit, I was hankering for more, but the gentlemen at the pit lane refused politely, pointing to the others waiting for their chance.

And, as the setting sun (at 9.30 at night!) spread an intense orange hue in the sky, I walked back to my tent with a smile on my face and my heart still racing. This car is way more focused and sharper than even its iconic predecessor, the E46 M3 CSL. That makes it the greatest road car to have rolled out of the Garching factory, and the most fitting tribute to the M3 name that celebrates 25 years this month.

One up

Just when we thought we'd had the most magical of weekends, BMW pulled a rabbit out of its M hat. It was a pleasant surprise indeed when the yet-to-be-launched1 Series M (it's not going to be called the M1, as BMW thinks that legendary name should remain sacrosanct) was driven right into the press meet venue on the second day at Ascari, covered in the familiar psychedelic camo livery. Even as we elbowed each other to get as close to the front left door as possible, the guy behind the wheel, Albert Biermann, head of development at theM division, made it clear that riding shotgun was the only option.

Although a bit peeved at not being able to drive it (we journalists are a greedy lot!), we grudgingly settled for a lap each around the circuit. With a chief engineer behind the wheel, I wasn't expecting much fun from that lap anyway.

Even the dishevelled and shaken look on the faces of those who came back after each lap didn't prepare me for the ultimate joyride that it would turn out to be. Biermann proved my assumption wrong right from flag off. I'm sure if there were a camera on board, it would have caught me looking like Ghostface from the Scream trilogy as Biermann flogged the coupé down the straights and through bends of the track, taking one corner at 180kph.

After getting used to the M3s the previous day, the much lower seating positionand the compact cabin of the 1 Series M made the lateral g's from those controlled drifts even more perceptible. However, despite the thrill and the enhanced sense of speed, the car seemed tamer than the M3, mostly due to the lack of the characteristic M bellow from the quad pipes.

The body and track of the car are much wider than that of the 135i, while there'sa spoiler atop the boot lid. The production 1 Series M coupé is likely to have 35bhp more than the 300bhp turbo engine seen in the 135i. A six-speed manual gearbox, with a traditional stick shift is expected to be standard as well. Throughout, Biermann asserted that the car will be positioned for younger M fans who can't afford an M3. So we hope the pricing will be competitive as well when the car is released early next year. Audi, bring yer RS1 out.

Specs & rating