SOMETIMES IT’S ABOUT MORE THAN PURE dynamics. Sometimes star power overwhelms everything. I guess we hadn’t thought of that when we lined up the ultimate test for the new M3 CS. It seemed reasonable enough. Those two letters – CS – have come to take on real significance. The E46-generation M3 CS set the template: small, considered tweaks to deliver a huge upswing in entertainment, control and excitement. When the title was revived for the F82 M4 CS and F80 M3 CS, the M division dramatically smoothed away the spikiness of the standard cars whilst simultaneously improving precision. Then came the M2 CS, a thoroughly deserving eCoty winner. Followed by the M5 CS, another eCoty champ, an instant classic and a car that radiates a magnetic, menacing personality.
So, when we heard about the new M3 CS, expectations were zinging off the rev-limiter. One of those old M revl-imiters starting with an 8. A simple head-to-head with, say, the new C63 AMG didn’t seem sufficient. Instead, we went big and rarefied. We looked for saloon cars transformed with proper hardware upgrades and a single-minded focus. It was a great plan in an office building, but in the cold light of a chilly morning in Kielder Forest, the potent M3 CS looks strangely out of its depth.
Our great friend Harry Metcalfe has arrived in his ‘Engorged Penis Purple’ Jaguar Project 8 and it looks, well, very intimidating. What a fantastically overblown saloon car shape! Even before the supercharged 5-litre V8 begins to bellow, the P8’s gaping intakes, razor-edged carbonfibre sills, radically extended but then cut away rear arches and steeply raked rear spoiler could hardly shout any louder. I love the unequivocal aesthetic, and beneath the skin Jaguar’s skunkworks supersaloon is just as mission-obsessed. This is so much more than an exercise in cramming the biggest engine available into the littlest body in the range. By comparison the sabre-toothed BMW just seems lumpy and a bit goofy.
The Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA is positively demur as it sits in the shadow
