BMW has given the M3 four-wheel-drive for the first time. DARREN CASSEY has been putting it through its paces.
For the first time in its history, the BMW M3 has gone four-wheel-drive. Purists will probably tell you you’re supposed to hate it, but it makes sense. Modern performance cars are becoming so powerful that all the technology in the world will struggle to put performance through just the rear wheels.
Anyone who drove the previous M3 will know what monstrous power and torque dumped unceremoniously into the rear wheels will do. The latest generation is hugely improved and addresses most of those issues, but while sideways at quarter-throttle on the big shop run sounds like fun it can get tiresome quickly. Especially when there’s very little grip as soon as the road gets mildly moist.
And that’s how we’ve ended up here: the BMW M3 Competition xDrive.