BMW M6

BMW is now offering a Competition Pack as an option on the M6 and, according to them, this gives the car ‘enhanced driving dynamics'. Which means it should be absolutely extraordinary.

Trouble is, it isn't. It's better than the standard car - just, we'll come to that in a bit - but whether lowered suspension (by 12mm at the front and 10mm at the rear), new tyres and a modified M differential are worth the £2,180 price tag (on top of the £83,700 list price of an M6, remember) is up for debate.

Yes, the pack means that the car is a little bit more pointy; yes, it means the back end does feel ever so slightly lighter, so it turns in fractionally more precisely; and yes, it also means that the car seems to shrink around you slightly more... but the margins are so tiny, so minute, that this pack doesn't offer anything substantial over the standard M6.

But given those fractional differences, and the fact that the pack is only 2.6 per cent of the purchase price of an M6, doesn't that make it worth it?

Afraid not. If your pen is hovering over the tick box for this option, you've already got an M6 coming. And the standard car is so tight and good at what it does, that this pack won't make any difference. If your OCD says you must check every box, go for it. Otherwise, put the money towards a Caribbean holiday.

Piers Ward