猩式車評：寶馬M4（2014款）

02-20

THE CLARKSON REVIEW: BMW M4 (2014)

猩式車評：寶馬M4（2014款）

Call up the old gang, Mr T - this paint job needs attention

把老闆叫過來，這傢伙噴的漆有問題啊

IT』S ALWAYS been said that technology and ideas developed in Formula One motor racing improve the cars we drive to work every day. Er, right. I see, so does your Nissan Juke have tyres that lose their ability to grip after 24 miles? Does your Toyota GT86 crash if the rear spoiler falls off? Can your Audi A3 be serviced as you drive it down the A38?

人們總說F1是汽車科技發展的試驗田。Emmm，我看看，那你們的尼桑Juke在跑了24英里（38公里）後輪胎抓地力會變弱么？而你們的豐田GT86在尾翼意外脫落時會失控撞車么？你們的奧迪A3在下高速的時候需要再保養一遍么？

You do, of course, have antilock brakes, rain-sensing wipers, automatic headlights, inertia-reel seatbelts and a starter motor. But none of that lot — nothing that really matters — came from F1. And there』s more. If F1 really were developing technology that eventually filtered down into road cars, then you would expect Renault, Ferrari and Mercedes to be at the forefront of hybrid technology. And they』re not.

現如今，大家的車上應該都有防抱死剎車，感應雨刷，自動大燈，三點式安全帶和啟動電機。但這些技術——最常用的汽車技術——都不是來自於F1賽事。而且，如果F1技術真的會被下放到普通汽車當中，那我們應該看到雷諾，法拉利和賓士作為混合動力技術的領導者，可惜它們並不是。

The car company that is at the forefront of hybrid technology right now is BMW, which isn』t involved in F1. Its little i3 is intriguing, and, as I mentioned last week, the car I』m most looking forward to driving this year is the i8, which by all accounts is comparable to the Porsche 911. Except that it does 134.5mpg.

目前的環保先鋒是寶馬，但是在2010年退出F1圍場後，寶馬就再也沒有回頭。而上周我提到的那輛有趣的i3和i8都是出自這個數年未曾接觸F1的廠商。現在我最期待去駕駛的也正是寶馬打算與保時捷911正面對決的混合動力超級跑車——i8，除了i8能夠做到134.5mpg的油耗吊打保時捷，想必性能上的比拼一定很有趣。

My worry — and I mentioned this too — is that BMW, like every other company in the world, has a limited pool of talent. And if the brightest and the best have been drafted into the hybrid projects, we have to assume it』s the B-team that is charged with developing the car you see photographed on this page — the new M4. So does that mean it』s not as good as it could have been?

我的擔憂——之前我也提過——寶馬和世界上其他所有廠商一樣，人才和資源都是有限的，一旦團隊里最聰明最優秀的人才都被拉去做混合動力超跑了，那隻能由剩下的人來負責設計我們接下來看到的這輛全新寶馬M4。所以，這輛新一代M4能否繼承上一代M3的優秀表現呢？

My initial reaction when the car was delivered was to feel slightly sick. That is because it had been painted in quite the most revolting colour I』ve seen. BMW calls it Austin Yellow, suggesting that it would have suited an Allegro back in the day. And it would. But Baby Diarrhoea is nearer the mark.

但是在我第一眼見到M4的時候，我有點反胃。倒不是車有多難看，是因為寶馬給M4帶的這一套全新噴漆，叫做奧斯汀黃，可能是指顏色傳承於當初讓英國人絕望的奧斯汀Allegro，對比一看還真是，而且我覺得寶馬不應該把這個顏色叫做「奧斯汀黃」，應該稱做「腹瀉專用色」。

It』s hard really to judge a car when it is such a horrible colour. It is like trying to learn to understand the moods of a bald dog. And to make matters worse, the other colours on offer are not much better. Best, I think, to go for black.

在這種詭異的顏色下，我很難去評價這輛M4，這就像試圖去理解生氣的女人一樣，看不懂。而且更糟糕的是，寶馬為M4提供的其他顏色也好不到哪裡去，所以我覺得，買M4最好還是選黑色吧。

There』s another advantage to this. If the car is black, you don』t notice quite so quickly that the stylists simply didn』t know when the time was right to step away from the drawing board. Every detail is garnished with yet more detail, and the end result is fussy. The door mirrors are especially annoying. Possibly the company has done this to make the two-door M4 coupé stand out more from the four-door M3 saloon, but I』m really not sure it was necessary.

而且黑色的M4還有一個好處，就是它不會讓人明顯地察覺到這輛車古怪的風格，每個細節都被加上了更多線條，最後看起來就變得花里胡哨，那個後視鏡我最看不慣。可能是寶馬想讓雙門版的M4比四門版的M3更帥氣一點，可是這樣子反而適得其反。

Eventually, though, I was able to put the styling and the colour out of my mind and concentrate on the car, which — on paper at least — looks a step back from its predecessor, which was called the M3 coupé. That car had a glorious V8 that screamed and hollered as the revs rose and then howled in an orgy of what sounded like BDSM ecstasy as it neared the red line.

最終，在我忽視M4的顏色和設計之後重新審視這輛車，單從數據上看，並不如它的前任E92 M3 coupé。E92 M3搭載的那具4.0 V8無比震撼，8500轉紅線的V8引擎和雷神般怒吼的聲浪讓人難以忘懷，成為一代經典。

Well, you can forget all that. The new car is fitted with a turbocharged straight six. Turbocharging? In an M car? That』s like putting gravy on an ice cream. However, this and the electric power steering are necessary these days if a car is to meet EU emissions regulations. It』s not the end of the world, because you get even more power than you did from the old V8, and a huge spread of torque. On the downside you lose those top-end shenanigans. And the throttle response is a little more squidgy, a problem that』s made worse by a seven-speed flappy-paddle gearbox that offers no creep. Unlike a standard automatic, the car won』t move until you put your foot on the accelerator. Which makes parking a jerky bloody nightmare.

在新M4上，舊時光一去不復返，在M4上寶馬選用了一台雙渦輪增壓的直六引擎。渦輪增壓？在一輛M系車型上？這就像在冰淇淋上加點老乾媽一樣的不合適。然而，這年頭的歐洲排放標準讓渦輪增壓引擎和電子助力方向盤成為了新車的必選。不過寶馬也還有點良心，在這具直六上壓榨出比上一代V8更高的馬力和巨大的扭力。但比起E92 M3，新M4失去的是轉速頂端華麗的聲浪，油門的反應也稍顯遲鈍，而且M4所用的7速雙離合變速箱沒法讓車在低檔位蠕行，它不像一般的自動擋，你必須要踩油門車才會動，這種設定在找車位停車的時候簡直就是噩夢。

And while we are on the subject of the gearbox, I was forever being told by bongs and rude messages that I might not turn off the ignition until I had put the gearlever into Park. But as far as I could see, there was no Park. What you have to do to solve the problem is to slam the lever this way and that while swearing.

講到變速箱，我一直被乘客和電子提示聲告知我沒有把檔位歸到P檔，因而無法熄火。但是我找來找去，檔位上沒有P檔，最後我只能通過用力向前懟檔位桿的同時咒罵寶馬來解決這個問題。

So, to recap, the colours are awful, the styling is blingtastic, the door mirrors are annoying, the gearbox is flawed, the engine is a step backwards and parking is hard. It sounds, then, as though BMW』s B-team hasn』t been able to overcome the emissions regulations, and as a result the car is not as good as the previous model. Yes, and there』s more.

所以，總結一下，這輛新M4顏色糟糕，設計花哨，後視鏡看著煩人，變速箱有問題，引擎比上一代差，停車還很困難。這樣看來，儘管寶馬通過了歐洲排放標準的嚴苛規定，但是整輛車也不如以前的那麼美好了。不過，關於M4還有更多信息要說明。

The M4 is not a particularly heavy car. Much plastic and carbon fibre is used to keep the weight, and therefore the fuel consumption, down. But it feels, as you potter about, as if it weighs more than a football stadium. You really do have to manhandle the wheel, and when you run over a bump, there』s a sense it is simply being squashed.

M4這輛車並不重，很多塑料件和碳纖維讓M4的車重相對較輕，油耗也更低一些。不過從駕駛感受上，特別是低速巡航的時候，方向盤像是被埋在混凝土裡一樣，你必須要非常粗暴的對待方向盤才行，在你經過一個坑洞的時候，你會真切的感受到被車擠壓的感覺。

There are, however, some good points. It』s a very easy car to use: all the command systems are as natural as breathing. It is also fitted with fabulous seats. And I loved being able to select tracks on my iPod from a list shown on the head-up display. Oh, and I nearly forgot: it is truly marvellous to drive.

不過呢，吐槽了這麼多，M4還是有一些好處的：這輛車的很多功能都非常方便，所有的控制系統都很容易上手，座椅棒極了，我甚至還可以從抬頭顯示器中選取我iPod里的歌曲。哦，還有最重要的一點：M4真的是一台完美的駕駛機器。

Yes, the engine is different in character from the old V8, but if you sit in the big meat pie of torque rather than at the summit of the power, you find you get all the oomph you want and total control over what the rear wheels are doing. Millimetric movements of your right foot are translated instantly into shifts in how the car behaves, and you can feel it all through the steering wheel, even though it』s not really connected to the car.

是，引擎不像原來的E92 M3，自然吸氣變為渦輪，引擎特性也截然不同，不過你要面對的不是老V8所擁有的馬力之峰，而是無窮無盡的扭力。你會得到這輛車所有的活力和完整的掌控。右腳一點點的移動都會通過方向盤傳遞到駕駛者手中，儘管方向盤實際上是沒有和車身真正連接在一起的。

The differential is fantastic, the brakes are wondrous, the antilock system is spot-on and the noise is a big bass-baritone that comes from the engine, not some laptop-activated exhaust valve.

差速器也很出色，剎車很到位，牽引力控制系統約束得剛剛好，引擎的聲浪就像一個巨大的低音炮一樣，低沉而富有魅力，不像這年頭某些車型的聲浪一聽就知道由電腦模擬出來的假聲。

It』s fast too. The figures don』t tell you all the story, because when you put everything in Sport Plus mode and plant your foot into the carpet, the car sets off like a disturbed shark. I honestly haven』t enjoyed driving a vehicle as much as this for months.

M4很快，數據並不能代表一切，因為當你把所有設置都調到最狂爆的模式之後，把油門踩到底，整輛車就像覓食的鯊魚一樣竄了出去。講真的，這樣的車我已經有小半年沒享受過了。

There was a time, of course, when the M3 was hijacked by the nation』s squash-playing dealmakers. People in braces who didn』t really know what it was; only that it made them look good. It was an accessory, like Oakley sunglasses.

曾經有一段時間，M3被英國的汽車交易法規禁止，人們不知道這輛車是何方神聖，只有等德國人把表面上的數據弄得漂漂亮亮的，我們才能享受到寶馬M系列的樂趣。

Today these people are driving fast Audis and, to a certain extent, Mercedes AMGs. Which means the M3 and the M4 can be bought once more by people who simply want a seriously good car.

現如今人們可以享受高性能的奧迪，某些人中意賓士AMG系列，這也就意味著M3和M4的客戶是一群熱愛速度，想要一台好車的汽車愛好者們。

I just wish BMW』s A-team had been involved in its design, though. Because I feel sure the stylists would have fitted less stupid door mirrors and made certain that some of the colours at least didn』t leave you feeling physically ill.

我只是希望寶馬可以把更多的精力放在M4的設計上，因為我能確定按照寶馬的水平，整體設計風格可以更好看，那個後視鏡也可以顯得不那麼違和。

總評 4星

Not bad for the B-team

對於人手不足的寶馬來說不算差

BMW M4 specifications 寶馬M4參數

Engine 引擎 2979cc, 6 cylinders in line

Power馬力 425bhp @ 5500rpm

Torque 扭矩 405 lb ft @ 1850rpm

Transmission 變速箱 7-speed dual-clutch sequential/automatic

Acceleration 加速 0-62mph in 4.1sec

Top speed 極速 155mph

Fuel 油耗 34mpg

CO2 排放 194g/km

Price 售價 ￡59,145 (price correct at time of publication)