BMW is leveraging its racing know-how to design a track-only version of the M4 developed to compete in the FIA’s popular GT4 category.
While the racer won’t be revealed for another couple of months, an early design sketch published by BMW gives us a good idea of what it will look like. Visually, it will stand out from the road-going M4 thanks to a specific front end with a more muscular-looking front fascia, side skirts, and a large wing on the trunk lid.
The modifications will be more than skin-deep. To keep weight in check, BMW will fit the GT4 with a carbon-fiber hood borrowed from the limited-edition M4 GTS, and the coupe will boast a pair of carbon-fiber doors. It will share its seats, its brakes, and its pedal box with the M6 GT3 that has been tearing up race tracks all over the world for the past couple of years.
The M4 GT4 is being developed with affordability and driveability in mind. Power will come from a bone-stock, M4-sourced turbocharged 3.0-liter straight-six engine, though how much power it will be allowed to generate will directly depend on how heavy the car is. The electronics will be sourced from the street-legal M4’s parts bin, too, but the turbo six will breath through a specific race-exhaust system.
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BMW’s engineers are putting the final touches on the car, and they expect that they’ll begin testing it on the track before the end of the year. The first cars will be delivered in late 2017, right in time for the following year’s season, meaning the M4 GT4 will likely make its official track debut during the 2018 edition of the 24 Hours of Dubai.