If you’ve been here a while, you’ll know that we’ve been covering Carly for quite some time. It’s no doubt one of the more fascinating bits of technology and a breath of fresh air in the otherwise boring, mundane, yet critical world of automotive diagnostics. Carly’s do-everything OBD scanner continues to undergo development and endless refinement, being able to do everything from running mileage checks on used cars to fairly typical and run-of-the-mill diagnostics scans on your own car, or even letting you know how much a potential repair might cost. The Carly community of crowd-sourced information on various car problems and fixes grow with it, too.
Last year, it was rather nice of them to invite me across the Channel to visit and meet their team in person at the Nürburgring. Here, with the company of other motoring journos, the Carly team caught us up to showcase just how far their platform has grown since 2014, while also letting us demo their scanners with track-spec cars at the Green Hell. Well, it might seem like a bit of déjà vu now, as the Carly team once again has invited me down to another race track, but this time, it sits closer to home. Arguably just as iconic as The Ring itself, the folks at Carly brought us to the infamous Top Gear test track, where so many of our early TV memories were made.
Plus, they even had ex-Stig from many seasons ago, Ben Collins, to show us around. There, I was to join him to ride along in the passenger seat of a hardcore, tastefully modified, race-spec BMW M2, in what would soon become one of the fastest sightseeing tours you could’ve booked this side of the UK. For the Carly team, it was chance for the motoring press to check out their OBD scanners up close and get some hands-on experience. For me, though, it’ll turn out to be one of the most memorable times in my recent history, and an eye-opening moment to see just how well the M2 handles when being driven at the limit.
Some High-Speed Sightseeing
Speaking of, before I got the chance to hop in the M2, Carly let us journalist play around with their OBD scanners on site. There, they brought along another BMW – an otherwise normal 3-series – to the Top Gear test track for us to get some hands-on time with running diagnostics on it. Plus, we could witness demonstrations being done to show what the Carly – an otherwise normal-looking little OBD tool – is capable of. It’s a great test, as this is the sort of scenario that many would-be Carly buyers would find themselves in. I’d know, because I’ve been using Carly on my personal cars for a while now, and I’m definitely interested to see how far they’ll take it.
Once that was done, each journalist who went along would then get two passenger laps with Ben Collins at the helm of a tricked-out BMW M2, in addition to a cooldown lap thereafter. Naturally, as you might imagine, time flew by like nothing, yet it was nonetheless an awesome experience. The particular M2 that they brought to the track, as you can see, is anything but ordinary. It had a ravishing livery, which is reminiscent of the old BMW M colours. Moreover, just in case you haven’t kept up with BMW’s designations for each generation, the fender decals boldly give it away – ‘G87’. It’s also marked as a ‘Development Vehicle’, so what’s up with that?
Well, as it turns out, MMX Performance might have something to do with it, and the brand currently sells some of the best aftermarket BMW tuning parts that money could buy here in the UK, and that includes parts for the G87 M2. Granted, I didn’t get a chance to learn what specific MMX parts were installed on this M2, but it’s very obvious that it’s not stock. I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t been a fan of how this new G87-generation M2 looks. Come to think of it, I’m still quite polarised by the styling and design of most new BMWs these days. Yet, here at the Top Gear test track – hallowed grounds for any fan – this particular M2 looked spectacular!
The Car And Driver As One
This beautiful MMX livery, the now-lowered stance, not to mention those gold alloys, were a treat for the eyes. To top it all off, in the hands of an experienced and professional racing driver like Ben Collins, the M2 is quite a capable track monster, dancing around the track like it was nothing. It was a shocking moment to see just how much faster an already-fast car like the M2 can be with the right driver at the helm. In that time, frozen still by shock and awe, I was able to record a quick little video to show you how rapidly those two laps dwindled. Even with me sitting in the passenger seat, that sensation of grip and riding at the limit of traction was palpable.
You could probably also tell that Ben Collins wasn’t holding back one bit, constantly keeping the throttle pinned from corner to corner, practically throughout the whole two laps, with the satisfying clicks of the paddle shifters clicking away in the background. Beyond that, this M2 is a testament to BMW’s top-notch engineering, and Ben Collins’ otherworldly car control, in addition to some fine-tuning by MMX Performance. It is an extremely sharp and focused car, tuned for maximum traction and cornering speed. In other words, it’s not a show-off car that’ll slide its tail-end out and drown you in tyre smoke. No, this M2 is a different kind of monster, made for outright speed.
Yet, despite having run about a dozen or so journalists up and down the Top Gear test track, and the M2 took quite a beating, it still continued to showcase world-class handling and dynamics to the very end. It drank up a full tank of fuel, and while it did last on the same set of tyres through to the end of the day, I reckon they won’t last much longer! Ben never felt bothered by the car at all, it seems, as it stayed exceptionally well-planted and unbelievably driven. For a bonus, aside from the M2, there was this gorgeous Nissan S15 Silvia, and if my eyes don’t deceive me, that’s an ultra-rare and highly sought-after Spec-R too, Ben was driving this in the morning creating some content before we arrived.
