BMW does such a great job at creating a niche-tastic range of cars for almost everyone. For instance, if you're looking for a higher driving position and lots of headroom, you can always have a choice of the X3 or the X5. However, if you want all of that but in a saloon-type body, there is always the unique-looking Gran Turismo.
But if you're a hooligan hooked on conquering twisty roads and missed out on the M4 GTS or couldn't find the necessary funds for the 493bhp, two-seat ultra Bimmer, then the M4 Competition Package might just be the next best alternative.
What is the Competition Package?
While the M3 and the M4 give outstanding performance, precision and agility, the M4 Competition Package gets significant handling upgrades, and a power hike to 450 horses.
This is the first significant upgrade the BMW M4 has received since its launch in 2014. As mentioned above, not only does the Comp Pack bring more power, it also adds new suspension components and wheels, acute styling revisions and additional equipment.
How does it differ to the regular M4 Coupe?
Its 3.0-litre in-line six twin turbocharged engine produces 450bhp (19bhp more than the M4), while torque remains at 550Nm at 1,850rpm to 5,500rpm. The extra power means that the M4 Comp Pack has a century sprint of just four seconds (a tenth of a second faster than the regular version).
It also gets new springs, dampers and anti-roll bars, along with reconfigured driving modes Comfort, Sport and Sport+. You even get exclusive forged, machine-polished, weight and rigidity- optimised 20-inch M alloy wheels with multi-spoke 666 M styling and mixed tyres (front: 265/30 R20, rear: 285/30 R20) as seen on the M4 GTS.
What about styling upgrades?
On the inside, the M4 Comp Pack sports 'lightweight' seats with vertical cut-outs and seatbelts that have woven-in BMW M stripes. Eye-catching exterior highlights include an M sports exhaust system with black chrome tailpipes.
What is it like driving a M4 Comp Pack in Singapore?
During our brief time with the M4 Comp Pack, we'd be lying if we said that its four percent power hike, felt faster or more powerful than the already impressive standard M4.
But like the regular M4, the Competition version struggles to find enough traction from its two driven rear wheels to match the twin turbocharged six prodigious torque output. While this may spell for heaps of fun on a wide, empty racetrack, it is less so when driven in traffic-laden Singapore.
As a result, we didn't get past third gear while driving around town. So while the Competition Package boasts just a bit more crazed energy around the redline, we probably wouldn't want to be driving it any faster on our congested roads.
So what exactly am I getting myself into with the Comp Pack?
Hard-riding and hard-hitting. You don't buy a car like this for its refinement, you buy a Competition Package when you want to throw the car around bends like a maniac.
Driving in a straight line, there isn't much difference as compared to its regular brethren. It's only when you get to the twisty bits do the changes really count.
So while outright performance is not chiefly what the M4 Comp Pack is about, handling on the other hand is. Now all you need is a winding road with a multitude of corners and sharp turns to realise the M4 Comp Pack's true hooliganism.
