BMW Details New Family of Engines

It has already been confirmed that the Z4 will be the first North American BMW to get their new 4-cylinder engine, but it certainly won’t be the last. BMW plans to put 6-cylinder, 4-cylinder and yes, even 3-cylinder engines in various models and trim levels. The purpose of the downsizing? Fuel efficiency, as always. BMW’s new efficientdynamics engines are expected to increase efficiency without sacrificing power. In fact there are power gains as BMW’s Theodor Melcher points out:

“(Downsizing) has nothing to do with the spirit of renunciation that many drivers associate with those engines. You can do things with a three now that you needed a six for in the past.”

With that said, the new engines will need a little help from high-pressure direct fuel-injection and turbochargers to make them capable of the power that we all expect from a BMW. Displacement will be between 400c and 500c.

The 3-cylinders will range in size of 1.2 litres to 1.5 litres. 4-cylinders will be in the 1.6 to 2.0 litre range, while the 6-cylinders will range from 2.4 litres to that lovely 3.0 litre that we all know and love. BMW hopes to get 50 to 70 horsepower per cylinder which means the 3.0 litre six could get as much as 400 horsepower. BMW is still sticking around with diesels which are also expected to be in the 3, 4 and 6 cylinder range. Their horsepower output per cylinder will be between 30 and 65. Both diesel and gas engines will get around 75 pound feet of torque per cylinder.

Don’t think the 3-cylinders will be limited to just Minis, however. Melcher didn’t deny the possibility of the 3′s making their way into rear wheel drive BMW’s. Okay, so the 1-series and the 3-series maybe, but apparently the 5 and 7-series could see the 3 cylinder in their engine bays as well. Now that’s just crazy talk.

But what about their amazing V8 and V12 engines? Will they get the axe?

“They will always be a part of BMW,” says Melcher, so don’t worry. In fact, demand for a V12 would probably be low which would essentially mean that BMW could hand build the engine a la Nissan GT-R. And as Nissan has proved, hand built engines are not a bad thing.

Expect to see the first of the new engines (the 4-cylinder which will make 240 horses and 230 pound feet of torque) in the Z4 by the end of this year. In the meantime you can check out the (somewhat cheesy) video above which details how BMW makes and installs the engines in its cars.

[Car and Driver]

Next Generation BMW M6 to Battle Audi R8

The next generation 6-series is just around the corner and there are now a few details on what the big boy of the line will be like.

The new M6 is going to go head on with the Audi R8. The R8 is a magnificent supercar that is highly touted as a car that can do splendidly on the track, but is comfortable and usable enough to be a daily driver. BMW is going to need to come up with something very good that has an additional selling point that the R8 doesn’t.

BMW recently revealed that it will indeed build the very attractive Vision EfficientDynamics concept, and it looks like it will come to fruition in the form of the new M6. The new M6 will take styling cues from the concept as well as elements from its 3 cylinder diesel electric sports car. The set up makes an estimated 356 horsepower and a ridiculous 590 pound feet of torque. Looks like efficiency is going to be the one up that the M6 will have on the R8.

Porsche 918 Spyder: 0-100 in 3.2 Seconds + 3 l/100 kms!

Granted there is likely some catch to the effect of it not being able to achieve 3l/100kms while it’s doing 0-100 in 3.2 seconds, but still, it is quite impressive nevertheless.

This plug-in concept will feature a V8 producing 500 horsepower matched to an electric motor that produces 218 horsepower for a combined horsepower rating of 718. The 918 Spyder concept operates like any other parallel hybrid where the gas and electric motor can work in conjunction with each other or indepentendly depending on the driving conditions. The car also features electric drive (E-Drive) which means it can travel up to 25 kilometres on the electric motor alone.

On the environmental end, Porsche claims a CO2 raiting of just 70 grams per kilometer.

Except to see many more supercars attempting to acheive performance yet efficiency as BMW is hoping to pull off a similar trick with its production version of its Vision EfficientDynamics concept and with Ferrari expecting to introduce a hybrid version of its 599 at Geneva very shortly.

Prayers = Answered. BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Going Into Production!

2013 is going to be a very good year.

Possibly the most innovative concept to come out in a while, BMW attempts the difficult task of combining power with efficiency. Also, BMW obviously couldn’t just stand by while their main rival Audi releases their all-electric E-tron.

The production version will obviously be a lot tamer than the concept you see, still, expect a shapely supercar like body.

What’s under the hood? Well, not what you’d might expect. It will reportedly feature a 3-cylinder diesel with a range extender and two electric motors. Sound underwhelming? Well the complicated hybrid set up will produce around 356 horsepower and a ridiculously insane 590 pound feet of torque!

There’s more good news. Vision EfficientDynamics will not be the name of the production version. BMW may be considering reviving the M1 moniker for it.  But really, they could call it pig-farter and we’d still buy it.
Check out more pics over at autoblog.