In association with MotorEasy
Car of the Year Awards 2024: Best performance car for value
First and foremost, a great performance car is entertaining and involving to drive, but unlike pure sports cars, they also have to be practical and comfortable enough to use every day...
BMW M240i xDrive
Some people would rather not see a summer blockbuster on a colossal IMAX cinema screen with surround sound. Instead, they’ll visit their local Curzon to absorb it in more intimate surroundings, separating the story from the spectacle and making it easier to take in. The BMW M240i does just this. It distils the BMW M3’s essence into a more compact package, and delivers it in a pared-down, no-nonsense fashion.
With more of everything, the M3 is a better performance car, but the M240i still delivers gung-ho action, thanks to its glorious six-cylinder engine. Its compact size helps it feel nimble on tight roads; it points its nose into corners like a sniffer dog on the trail of a suspicious package.
The rival Audi RS3 Saloon is even faster and roomier, but it’s not worth the huge extra cost. By doing everything a performance car needs to do and making it relatively accessible, the M240i can be thought of as the director’s cut.
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