Much has been said of the BMW M2’s controversial looks and weight gain in its newest generation, but two things are beyond question: its outright pace and the fact you can still buy one with a manual gearbox (and likely will be able to until 2030). BMW M’s Frank van Meel told us the M2’s engineering team, in typical German engineer fashion, argued, “It’s not as fast as an automatic transmission. So why would you need it?” But according to van Meel, “That’s what our customers asked for. And we really actively listened to our customers, to our fan base. The fans asked for it. They got it.”
So, for your hard-earned money, you get a sporty coupe with a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six up front, 453 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque directed through a six-speed manual gearbox in the middle, and rear-wheel drive.
Sure, it’s a little slower than the available eight-speed automatic, but a few tenths of a second to 60 mph will never compensate for the interaction of swapping cogs yourself.