The 2026 BMW M2 CS Just Decimated The Audi RS3's Nürburgring Record
There's been a bit of back and forth between Audi and BMW at the Nürburgring of late. In 2021, the 8Y Audi RS3 set a time around the Nordschleife of 7:40.748, earning it the title of the fastest compact car on the 'Ring. In 2023, the G87 BMW M2 stole the record with a time of 7:38.706 on the 12.944-mile route, so last year, the revised 2025 RS3 went back to the Nordschleife. It smashed the Bimmer's time by over five seconds, posting a time of 7:33.123, and the Bavarians simply couldn't let that slide.
"You beat us by five seconds? Fine - we'll beat you by eight," said BMW. It took a special model to achieve, but the 2026 M2 CS has now reset the record at 7:25.5, achieving the first sub-7:30 time for a compact car. You can watch that astonishing lap at the bottom of this article.
This lap time is some 13 seconds quicker than the one set by the normal M2 back in April 2023, but all that matters to BMW is that all its current CS models have dipped below 7:30, including the M4 CS, M3 CS (sedan, a time with the wagon has not been posted), and M4 CSL. For the record, the latter is the quickest BMW Group production car with a time of 7:18.137.
With over 70 bends, changing camber profiles, and varying surfaces on the track, one cannot simply attribute the record to more power, but also to enhanced suspension and grippier rubber. Still, there's no doubt that a jump from 473 horsepower to 523 helped. The only drawback? All that power means the M2 CS isn't available with a manual transmission. Then again, no Audi is.
The M2 CS is some 66 lbs lighter than the car upon which it is based, and it's got 129 horsepower more than the RS3. For Audi to reclaim the record would likely require a very focused and heavily upgraded car, and as a four-door hatch/sedan, the RS3 might be a tough sell with more track focus. Then again, it's not unlike Ingolstadt to celebrate the end of an era, and with the five-cylinder engine now only available in the RS3 after the TT RS departed, it's not unimaginable to think that a limited-run RS3 with no rear seats, a bigger turbo, and some specially developed rubber could be created to say goodbye to an icon.
There are rumblings that the TT will return at some stage, and its smaller footprint could give the M2 CS something to worry about, but that will take a couple of years to come to fruition, if it ever does, so BMW's record will likely be safe for a long time to come.
The 2026 BMW M2 CS Just Decimated The Audi RS3's Nürburgring Record first appeared on Autoblog on Jul 3, 2025
This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Jul 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
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