THE AWESOME BMW M HYBRID V8'S SPECS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.
The BMW M Hybrid V8 is unmistakably BMW thanks to the inclusion of the iconic kidney grille, and the BMW M 50th anniversary logo drives home the fact that this is indeed an M creation and will have a life confined to the world’s best racetracks. We reported on this amazing new BMW M racecar when it was first released, and then again after it was finally given its awesome race-inspired livery, which is something quite clever. Not only is the new livery in the colours of the company, but it’s also camouflaged to stop other automakers from copying any novel ideas. To make it conform with the BMW racecars of old, the camouflage pattern is actually made up of images of some of BMW’s most iconic racecars, and so in the cleverly-designed graphics clued up onlookers will be able to pick out the 1976 BMW 3.0 CSL, the 1981 BMW M1/C, the 1978 BMW 320i Turbo, the 1986 BMW GTP, the BMW M3 E36 GTS-2, the BMW Z4 GTLM and the BMW M8 GTE.
We learned all about the car, the history and the design, but we were not quite sure what kind of hybrid engine setup the prototype would be powered by, besides that it would be based on a conventional V8. We did know that the car would eventually see action in the Le Mans Daytona h class (LMDh), the Hypercar class of the FIA World. All this information told us is that power would need to be capped at 670 hp. Oddly the internal combustion side of this hybrid engine setup is more than capable of getting to that power cap without electric assistance, so the trick here is clever mapping will see it only hit the limited peak power when the hybrid side of the married engine’s batteries become depleted.
The normally-aspirated P66/3 BMW V8 engine is derived from the 2018/19 DTM racecars which is why it’s able to produce enough power to hit the class cap on its own, but there’s clearly been an extensive rework for it to be able to have a symbiotic relationship with the battery-operated components and also to safely accommodate boost from a pair of turbochargers. Capacity remains the same at 4.0-litres and the redline is at a healthy 8 200 rpm, while power output is rated at 631 hp with 650 Nm of torque in play. Oddly close to the combined power cap for the series. So the electric side should be making similar power and as the batteries wane, the ICE should start taking over effectively keeping power output the same.
Take a look at the YouTube video from BMW M's ///M Bedded YouTube series that shows off the latest in M technology used on the prototype hybrid racecar that we now know the specifications of - the BMW M Hybrid V8: WE ARE M – Mbedded, Episode 7. UNVEILING: The BMW M Hybrid V8 Design.| BMW M
Be sure to check out our YouTube channel here for more exciting and exclusive SXdrv content! And don't forget to smash that subscribe button!