 I'm Dan Seifer with The Verge and I've been a fan of cars my entire life, but I've never actually had the opportunity to drive one on a racetrack. So here I am in Monticello, New York today. We're at the Monticello Motor Club, which is a big giant racetrack where lots of really fast cars drive around. And we've got the BMW M2 with us, which is a $50,000 sports car that anybody can go to BMW and drive and purchase and drive off the lot. It's really fun to drive on the road, but it's also really fast and capable on a track. Now I've got no skill level here, so I'm a novice and we're going to be doing some track stuff and some autocross stuff. We also have our creative director James Barham here, who's kind of like an intermediate. He's been on the track a few times in his life. And then of course we have our expert, Jason Harper, who has been on the track a bunch of times, driven lots of fast cars in fast places. And we're going to have some fun and see how each one of us does with the M2. So this is the autocross, which is kind of one of these places that you don't really go for real fast, but it shows up all your mistakes. You learn what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong. And you learn really what the car can do a little bit without big consequences, which is awesome. So the idea is you can play a little bit, you're going to some cones, not that big of a deal. This is really, really, really, really hard. I want to go fast. I want to go faster. I'm actually getting a little bit hot. I've got to hit a few cones. Let's see how this goes. It's dancing man. It's such a good little car. How many car seats do you think I can fit in this? I had a car seat in it this week. I have a three year old, he liked it a whole bunch. Faster dad, faster. My wife is like... I'm going to put this down. So the great thing about this car, the M2, is it's a throwback BMW. You used to own BMW was the idea. You didn't have to be an amazing driver to just love your car, but if you were an amazing driver, you could get the most out of it. That's what this M2 is. Yeah, and it's a lot of fun. It's fun to drive. Even if you're inexperienced like myself, it doesn't clamp down on the fun so much as like other cars, but if you have more experience, you can take it even further to your limits of what you do. You drove it in sport mode? Sport mode, yep, which is just beyond the comfort mode. I drove in sports plus. The sort of idea, it allows you a little more latitude. Yep, a little bit more feels. And I mean for me, this is an important thing. I'm back on the track for the first time for years. The last time I drove a car on a track was a BMW M3 E30. But again, it was about handling, it was about late braking, it was about just the craft of driving fast. And the incredible thing here, we're driving on super fast, and the incredible thing here, we're driving on such a tight circuit where everything happens so fast, brake, change, turn in, do this. We need a track. Yeah. We need a really, really big track. Where do we have one of those? Yes, folks. This is a great car for back roads, but you can take it to the track, but it isn't a track car. We're out here doing it because we can, it's safe, we don't have to worry about cops or any other problems. So this is a chance for each of us to explore our sort of limits safely. So this is when I finally get to go fast. Although I'm going to take it easy. Woo-hoo-hoo! So Dan, I understand it's your wife's birthday today. That it is. Did she expect you to come home or not? I mean, this car really should not be able to do this. For a $52,000 car, this car handles as well as a lot of sports cars that are way more than that, like twice that price. And then not only does the handle awesome, it has enough grunt to push you out of the corner. You can fit one child seat in here. I'm not sure about two. Yeah, a couple of groceries in the trunk, a couple of bags of groceries. Yeah, you can fit groceries in here. So you just have to give up one child. Which one do you like less? Wow, man. Thank you. That was exhausting. I know it is. I grew up loving BMWs, and this is like, I remember why now with this. This is small and fast and tight. And like Dan said, you can just drive it, and it's going to go as fast as you want it to go. And if you suddenly go, oh my God, it's got you. It's going to pick you up. This is a driver's car, and the idea that we can all go out and have a great time didn't scare the shit out of anybody, which is also interesting. To your point, it's forgiving, and yet when you push really hard, we hit 140, 150 on the back straight. You did imaginary brake, but other than that, you know, no harm, no foul. We had a great time, and it's not a track car, but it does really good out here. I know the thing with the track, it allows you to really find the limits of a car. I mean, you said slam on the brakes, and I'm like, you slam on the brakes, and it's, oof. There's so much power there. You can brake so much later than you think. And the great thing here is we got a chance to really push something like this, which, let's be honest, you don't want to be learning those limits out on the road. But hey, for 52 grand, 340 horsepower, this is as much car, really, as you'll ever need, and I promise you, everybody's going to have a good time. So much fun. You can still put a kid in the back. Yeah. Two. If you must. So the beautiful, beautiful thing about the M2 is we can play a little bit. So, you know, there's no real consequences out here. I'm not going to steer Dan at all.
 I'm Dan Seifer with The Verge and I've been a fan of cars my entire life, but I've never
 actually had the opportunity to drive one on a racetrack.
 So here I am in Monticello, New York today.
 We're at the Monticello Motor Club, which is a big giant racetrack where lots of really
 fast cars drive around.
 And we've got the BMW M2 with us, which is a $50,000 sports car that anybody can go to
 BMW and drive and purchase and drive off the lot.
 It's really fun to drive on the road, but it's also really fast and capable on a track.
 Now I've got no skill level here, so I'm a novice and we're going to be doing some track
 stuff and some autocross stuff.
 We also have our creative director James Barham here, who's kind of like an intermediate.
 He's been on the track a few times in his life.
 And then of course we have our expert, Jason Harper, who has been on the track a bunch
 of times, driven lots of fast cars in fast places.
 And we're going to have some fun and see how each one of us does with the M2.
 So this is the autocross, which is kind of one of these places that you don't really
 go for real fast, but it shows up all your mistakes.
 You learn what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong.
 And you learn really what the car can do a little bit without big consequences, which
 is awesome.
 So the idea is you can play a little bit, you're going to some cones, not that big of
 a deal.
 This is really, really, really, really hard.
 I want to go fast.
 I want to go faster.
 I'm actually getting a little bit hot.
 I've got to hit a few cones.
 Let's see how this goes.
 It's dancing man.
 It's such a good little car.
 How many car seats do you think I can fit in this?
 I had a car seat in it this week.
 I have a three year old, he liked it a whole bunch.
 Faster dad, faster.
 My wife is like...
 I'm going to put this down.
 So the great thing about this car, the M2, is it's a throwback BMW.
 You used to own BMW was the idea.
 You didn't have to be an amazing driver to just love your car,
 but if you were an amazing driver, you could get the most out of it.
 That's what this M2 is.
 Yeah, and it's a lot of fun. It's fun to drive.
 Even if you're inexperienced like myself,
 it doesn't clamp down on the fun so much as like other cars,
 but if you have more experience, you can take it even further
 to your limits of what you do.
 You drove it in sport mode? Sport mode, yep, which is just beyond the comfort mode.
 I drove in sports plus.
 The sort of idea, it allows you a little more latitude.
 Yep, a little bit more feels.
 And I mean for me, this is an important thing.
 I'm back on the track for the first time for years.
 The last time I drove a car on a track was a BMW M3 E30.
 But again, it was about handling, it was about late braking,
 it was about just the craft of driving fast.
 And the incredible thing here, we're driving on super fast,
 and the incredible thing here, we're driving on such a tight circuit
 where everything happens so fast, brake, change,
 turn in, do this.
 We need a track. Yeah.
 We need a really, really big track.
 Where do we have one of those? Yes, folks.
 This is a great car for back roads, but you can take it to the track,
 but it isn't a track car. We're out here doing it because we can, it's safe,
 we don't have to worry about cops or any other problems.
 So this is a chance for each of us to explore our sort of limits safely.
 So this is when I finally get to go fast.
 Although I'm going to take it easy.
 Woo-hoo-hoo!
 So Dan, I understand it's your wife's birthday today.
 That it is.
 Did she expect you to come home or not?
 I mean, this car really should not be able to do this.
 For a $52,000 car, this car handles as well as a lot of sports cars
 that are way more than that, like twice that price.
 And then not only does the handle awesome, it has enough grunt to push you out of the corner.
 You can fit one child seat in here. I'm not sure about two.
 Yeah, a couple of groceries in the trunk, a couple of bags of groceries.
 Yeah, you can fit groceries in here. So you just have to give up one child.
 Which one do you like less?
 Wow, man. Thank you.
 That was exhausting.
 I know it is.
 I grew up loving BMWs, and this is like, I remember why now with this.
 This is small and fast and tight.
 And like Dan said, you can just drive it, and it's going to go as fast as you want it to go.
 And if you suddenly go, oh my God, it's got you. It's going to pick you up.
 This is a driver's car, and the idea that we can all go out and have a great time
 didn't scare the shit out of anybody, which is also interesting.
 To your point, it's forgiving, and yet when you push really hard,
 we hit 140, 150 on the back straight.
 You did imaginary brake, but other than that, you know, no harm, no foul.
 We had a great time, and it's not a track car, but it does really good out here.
 I know the thing with the track, it allows you to really find the limits of a car.
 I mean, you said slam on the brakes, and I'm like, you slam on the brakes, and it's, oof.
 There's so much power there. You can brake so much later than you think.
 And the great thing here is we got a chance to really push something like this,
 which, let's be honest, you don't want to be learning those limits out on the road.
 But hey, for 52 grand, 340 horsepower, this is as much car, really, as you'll ever need,
 and I promise you, everybody's going to have a good time.
 So much fun.
 You can still put a kid in the back.
 Yeah.
 Two.
 If you must.
 So the beautiful, beautiful thing about the M2 is we can play a little bit.
 So, you know, there's no real consequences out here.
 I'm not going to steer Dan at all.