2015 BMW M3 and M4 Video, First Look

BMW revealed two jaw-dropping performance cars at the 2014 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The M3 sedan and M4 coupe are race-bred and ready for the track or a twisting mountain road near you.

Both of these cars are powered by a fancy new straight six. Surprisingly this engine is actually more than 20 pounds lighter than the high-winding V8 found in today’s M3. Thanks to features like turbocharging, variable valve timing and direct injection it delivers 425 HP and 406 LB-FT of torque. But don’t think this engine is totally irresponsible; fuel consumption and emissions are down by a claimed 25 percent.

With a six-speed manual gearbox these cars should be able to blitz from zero to 60 miles an hour in 4.1 seconds. When equipped with the seven-speed M-DCT automatic transmission that time drops to an estimated 3.9 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 155 miles an hour.

SEE ALSO: 2014 Detroit Auto Show Coverage

Thanks to advanced materials, including quite a bit of lightweight carbon fiber, plus some good old-fashioned engineering the 2015 BMW M3 is about 80 kilograms lighter than the outgoing version. That’s more than 175 pounds, or nearly 1.3 Craig Coles!

The M3 and M4 were born in Bavaria and proven on the racetrack. You’ll be able to get your hands on one early this summer; pricing has not been made public at this time.

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