BMW M2

Did this compact(ish) M car endear itself to us during its time here? We reveal all

- JAMES ATTWOOD

WHY WE RAN IT To celebrate the survival - and indeed evolution - of the proper sports coupé

Inflation has been quite the talking point over recent years, and the subject feels particularly relevant to the M car that has just left our fleet. The M2 may be the smallest in the line-up, but it grew in every respect between its F87 and G87 generations. Our job was to find out how that impacted the ownership experience in reality.

Well, here's one positive piece of news about inflation: my enthusiasm for the M2 only increased during its time with us.

Initial impressions were of a car that was incredibly capable but had grown into something a little more po-faced than an M2 should be and a bit hard to love. It felt less like a small sports coupé and more a slightly downsized 3 Series with reduced practicality. Park the M2 next to a previous-generation 4 Series and they're basically the same size.

But once I had adjusted to its size (and realised that even a bulked-up M2 is still delightfully compact by modern car standards) and gained a feel for the twin-turbo six-cylinder engine's thunderous power delivery, I started to revel in the M2 and looked forward to any journey in it.

The trick, as with so many modern performance cars, is to realise that you will barely scratch the surface of its outright capability under most circumstances. You would need a circuit to truly exploit the M2's 453bhp output or do more than play with drift mode. And frankly, the Sport Plus driving mode is too stiff for almost any public road you will find in the UK.

But that's okay, because you can still have a lot of fun. The M2 offers a wonderfully direct connection to the road, while that powertrain is both pleasingly sonorous and responsive. I was always a little too aware, though, that the flashy double-spoke alloys (a £330 option) would be a little closer to roadside kerbs than I would like.