The new BMW M2 will put a smile on your face for what it is, but also for what it isn’t: another bloated SUV wearing an M badge.

If you pay attention to sports cars or European luxury brands, you’re probably familiar with M, BMW’s Motorsport division. Since 1972, this in-house performance wing has spent time learning lessons on the track and using what it's learned to build fun and engaging performance cars.

In its early years, M was literally taking a 3.5-liter straight 6-cylinder developed for racing and stuffing versions of it into road cars, like the M1 and the first-generation M5. Combined with tight steering and precise suspensions, this engine became the hallmark of BMW M for decades.

But then BMW realized it could sell M versions of SUVs like the X5 and X6, as well as almost every other model in its lineup. These vehicles are certainly exciting, but at 6,000 pounds, with all-wheel drive (AWD) and a V8 engine, they're hardly the M cars that purists love.

That's why the 2016 BMW M2 could not have come at a better time. This fun little runabout packs a serious punch, cramming a potent inline six and sublime gearbox into the small 2 Series Coupe chassis. To get to the bottom of this car, we trekked out to {"id":16,"type":"eLink"}, an incredible and challenging track 90 minutes west of Boston. In the process, the M2 reminded us all why we love the letter M.