2013 BMW M3 Coupe Lime Rock Park Edition Test Drive by Autoblog

Autoblog Canada had the opportunity to test drive the 2013 BMW M3 Coupe Lime Rock Park Edition. This vehicle was made in collaboration with the BMW and Lime Rock Park to celebrate the longstanding relationship between BMW automobiles and the Lime Rock Park racing circuit. Units were limited to 200. Here is what they had to say about the vehicle:

Of course, one of the beautiful things about the M3 is that is doesn’t always have to be completely punishing. I put a fair few hundred of highway kilometres on the coupe while I had it, and I’m not ashamed to admit that a lot of them were spent with the Comfort setting selected (as well as having the shift speed turned down, and the rather plebian “D” engaged… more on that later). That tamest suspension setting doesn’t magically transmute the ride of the car to that of a 7 Series, but it does tame the otherwise chatty road feel via the floorboards.

The Lime Rock Park Edition also offers a lightweight exhaust made from the comic-book-sounding “Inconel-titanium,” from M Performance. The pipes shave an impressive 9 kilograms (20 pounds) from the undercarriage of the car. M says they also reduce backpressure and optimize exhaust flow, but makes no claims to increasing output past the standard 414 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. (Bimmerfiles with the Inconel kit fitted and a penchant for dyno runs should tell us in comments if power increases have been found… we have our suspicions.) In any event, the resultant exhaust sound is brutally, wonderfully lurid. Like Yo-Yo Ma Pete Townshending his cello across the back of your head – loud and a bit weird, but special all the same.

The potent heart of the M3 imperfection that I love so much is, of course, the high-strung S54 V8 engine. This motor, specifically its relatively short torque output, has been earning qualified praise since its introduction in 2007. Kept on boil, the engine is downright spectacular, with throttle response razor sharp as long at the V8 is spinning over 5,000 rpm and the driver at the helm is keeping close attention to the task at hand. The lower torque output means that the M3 never does feel rocketship quick out of the gate, but rather must be approached like the proverbial “momentum car,” albeit one that can maintain spectacular velocities through even very twisty bits of road. I’ve driven standard M3 coupes on racetracks and seen how the car and motor come absolutely alive in those settings; I only drove the LRP car on public roads, but I got the sense there’s even more goodness here.

Read full review at Autoblog