BMW M240i takes on Porsche 718 Cayman and AMG CLA 45 Car News

The Porsche, this one with a heavy dual-clutch gearbox, tips the scales at 1365kg and the mad Merc – the four-doors, torque-vectoring clutch packs, front drive-shafts, 20-inch wheels inches and the dual-clutch gearbox – comes in just 5kg heavier than the M240i. BMW talks about weight-minimizing wheel bearings and the widespread use of aluminum in the suspension and bodywork, which is fine, but this is an unacceptably heavy car.

Knowing how much weight is involved makes the way this point-to-point car is all the more sensational. Directional changes don’t flow perfectly simpatico between the axles, as they do with the Cayman, but the M240i still cuts a cohesive figure effortlessly.

You hope the next M2 will be easier to squeeze – to feel a little less nose, higher tension when cornering and with more iron-fisted rear axle damping in the middle of the corner – but the understudy M-lite of this car is not imprecise or flabby. It’s precise and composed.

And if it’s not thrown, the M240i at least seems to like being sharply poured into corners, where both ends load quickly and the heavily rear-biased power and throttle setting can be appreciated.

Of the two damping modes, Comfort provides enough control for all but the roughest roads you might go to sport. Either way, there’s finesse and fluidity to the body movements, which partly makes up for the lack of confidence imparted by the electrically weighted but mostly numb electric power steering.

The overall experience is more of a scaled-down super-sedan than a light and supple sports coupe – perhaps not quite what you’re looking for in this class, but fierce and satisfying all the same.

And performance. Just wow. The result of BMW’s redesign of the trusty B58 3.0-litre straight-six is ​​that between 1900rpm and 6500rpm there’s only a brief 500rpm interlude when you aren’t powered by 368 hp or 369 lb-ft. Thrust is monstrous by any standard, shifts mere interrupting flickers (downshifts are even more fleeting), and pull is genuinely hard to figure out.