When you’re a bonafide YouTube sensation and Nurburgring meister, certain doors open for you. Young talent Alex Hardt’s command of a KW-shod, lightly-tuned BMW M2 on the Nordscheife show exactly why tuning shops like VERSUS Performance will lend the keys when it means considerable exposure.

VERSUS took an already impressive car and improved on its weak points. With a set of 20″ BBS CI-R rims and 295-section tires in the rear, the traction of the famously snappy M2 is improved tenfold. Some of that has to do with the big-buck KW 3-Way Clubsport coilovers, but getting the power to the ground also has something to do with software tuning.

Image credit: RingMoments/Instagram

Getting the turbocharged motor to produce power progressively is a must when building a ‘Ring weapon. VERSUS’ Stage II kit helps in this regard with a software tune to the N55 motor, plus their own downpipe and a sweet-sounding Akrapovic exhaust. In total, the kit bumps power to 420 horsepower and 475 lb/ft of torque!

That grunt helps put the nimble M2 on-par with a McLaren 650S at the ‘Ring. We all know how capable Hardt is in an E36, so it should be no surprise that he masters the M2 with twice the power.

Because Hardt drives like a man twice his age; never loses his composure in traffic, and always keeps his inputs measured, an onlooked can be lulled into a false sense of safety. At the treacherous Nurburgring, however, serious incident is never far away—as seen at 1:36!