At a time when the world is conscious of fuel usage and carbon footprints, Michael Moroney takes a guilty trip in one of BMW's more powerful cars, the new BMW M3 Coupé, a car that oozes power and performance and sets a new standard in supercar ability.

Bless me reader for I have sinned. BMW has tempted us with the new M3 Coupé. This is a supercar performance machine that is exceptional. Against a background of rising oil prices, a world that is conscious of carbon footprints, my test drive of the new BMW M3 Coupé enlarged my carbon footprint for this year.

The new BMW M3 Coupé has huge performance from its 4.0 litre petrol engine. It's pricey and impractical, with a €104,100 price tag and rising.

So readers before I start, my guilt tells me that I should say, bless me for I have sinned; I have driven one of the most powerful cars on the market. But I have been thrifty, legal and have at all times driven safely, despite the temptation. So maybe in the grand scheme of things it's just a small or venial sin! I think that I'll get over it.

Stand beside the new BMW M3 Coupé and you'll be tempted by everything but the price. This is a hugely powerful car that delivers driving performance beyond the norm. That's achieved by a combination of a big and powerful engine, coupled with a suspension and technology features to give superb road holding if you push this car to its limits.

The M3 is now available as a saloon as well as Coupé. The car looks different from the normal BMW 3 series, with a significant bulge in the bonnet to accommodate the 4.0 litre V8 petrol engine. The car seems lower and the side design tells you that you are in for something different long before you get the view the M3 badge on the rear.

This new M3 Coupé engine develops 420hp at 8,300rpm and 400Nm of torque at 3,900rpm. To highlight the flexibility of the engine, BMW claims that 85 per cent of torque is available from 6,500rpm. Most significant of all is that you can hear the growl of this engine; hit the accelerator pedal and you'll know that there is something special under the bonnet.

The engine is linked to a six-speed manual gearbox. The car has a variable M differential, which conveys up to 100 per cent of available power to the wheel with most grip.

With this level of engine power, the new V8-powered BMW M3 easily breaks through the magical 100hp per litre barrier, giving 105hp per litre. This engine powers the car from zero to 100km/hr in just 4.8 seconds and on to a limited top speed of 250km/hr.

Despite this high power, BMW claims the performance does not compromise economy. The BMW M3 Coupé can deliver 12.4 litres/100km (22.8mpg) in fuel economy on the combined cycle. That makes it eight per cent more fuel efficient than the outgoing M3 model.

BMW claims that this level of economy for such a high performance car is achieved by the use of BMW's EfficientDynamics programme. This feature impacts on almost all cars in the BMW range. The M3 Coupé benefits from the BMW Brake Energy Regeneration system. This technology uses an Intelligent Alternator Control and Absorbent Glass Mat battery to recognise when the engine is on over-run and activates the alternator to charge the battery with what would previously have been wasted energy.

The other significant feature of the BMW's EfficientDynamics programme is lightweight technology. The previous-generation M3 showed how carbon-fibre could be used by BMW in limited-volume production cars. The new M3 Coupé is the first full-production car in its class to feature a carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic roof panel with exposed weave. In isolation, the carbon-fibre roof panel saves 5kgs over a conventional roof panel but it also lowers the centre of gravity to contribute to the M3's driving dynamics.