Hear the 2021 BMW M3 and M4 Tear it Up During Nurburgring Testing

The G80 M3 and G82 M4 are probably the hottest debuts left for this year, maybe even the years to come. Mercedes appears to be wimping out when it comes to the C 63 while Lexus has reportedly pulled all V8 development. Thus, if you want something aggressive and not Ferrari-priced, these will be your main choices.

And they're not bad choices either. While the 4 Series Coupe received lots of criticism over its giant grilles, the anger appears to have dissipated, leaving us with a low, aggressive base car for the M4 to underpin itself on.

As we said about a week ago, this particular test prototype should have the exact spec they will show during the upcoming launch. It's got blue paint of the satin variety, black trim and a number of performance options. In short, it's the M4 that costs the most money.

For many years, AWD was a rumored feature of the G80/G82. It's official now, and you can even see it at work on the track, correcting the prototype's trajectory in a way specific to all-paw traction. BMW probably couldn't make this car without xDrive, as it applies the extra torque of the new engine and guarantees better launches.

While the 3.0-liter twin-turbo formula remains the same, this new inline-6 is said to have better response times and, in the case of the M4 competition, delivers up to 503 horsepower. BMW will a "normal" M3/M4 with about 473 hp and a stripped out "Pure" version with a manual. But we suspect everybody will order the ones with all the bells and whistles.