Many purists consider the German-market BMW M3 CSL the pinnacle of the marque. Lightweight, powerful, purposeful. Its worth's been proven as the brand new, 450-hp, $170,000 BMW M3 GTS has bested it by merely two seconds 'round the Nürburgring.
While not an "official" time, the blokes at Sport Auto hit the 'Ring with a flaming orange and nosebleed-expensive M3 GTS and managed a best time of 7 minutes 48 seconds. Pretty impressive. However, not so impressive considering the BMW M3 CSL did the deed in 7:50 in 2003 at a much lower asking price (and without the orange). They also tested the GTS at the much-shorter Hockenheim circuit, where the GTS managed a 1 minute 12 second time, only one second faster than the CSL. That's easily seventy thousand dollars worth of progress. [M3Post]
Photo Credit: Teymur Madjderey