It's Official - BMW Returning to ALMS!!

[jknopp44]

The contract BMW NA had with PTG expired at the end of 2006 and they elected not to renew it. The E46 M3 had gone out of production and BMW was not interested in putting a V8 in it and continuing. The V8 was legal BTW. Then you could just add about all of what you've stated above. Tom Milner is a great guy and I'd also love to see PTG back with BMW again, but I don't think there's any chance of it at all.

I knew the V8 was legal for 07, just wish someone would have jumped on it, "PTG". I loved the sound of the Panoz cars on the track, but they just seem quite underdeveloped compared to the Ferrari and Porsche. Of course money talks, so I am sure from a financial standpoint, for PTG, the Panoz was a reasonable choice.
I would love to ask BMW why they continue to sink so much money into F1. IMHO I just dont see the benefit in F1, with respect to transferring technology to road going cars. I am sure plenty will disagree with that statement. While I appreciate the level of tech with F1, to me they are just high powered go carts....

Sorry I got a little off post there toward the end.. =)

[M3Alpine99]

Dang this is getting a lot of attention on bf.c hehe

Soon all the subsections will know that BMW is coming back to ALMS

Balls hot. Thanks God BMW is finally getting factory support for ALMS. F1 is too cool for, so this is where it's at. I feel sorry for Porsche...

Fixed

[lowside67]

sweet jesus. thats the way the new m3 should look.

[jdholder]

I really really wonder how much?!?!?

I need a couple of companies to go public FAST!!!!!!

[SonOfWMB]

I have a dumb question. Looking at these pictures and all the pictures and press releases in other threads, where is the engine on this beast? From the interior shot and the overhead hood shot, there doesn't appear to be room for a V8 engine in the front. Does that mean this is a mid- or rear-engined race car, and not particularly anything like a production M3 besides the engine block?

Can some hardcore race junkies enlighten me?

[M3Alpine99]

Normally it will be placed far back into the engine bay as possible and normally as close to the ground as physically possible. They could probably fit 2 of those V8s in there is they really wanted to

[B.Watts]

IMHO I just dont see the benefit in F1, with respect to transferring technology to road going cars. I am sure plenty will disagree with that statement.

I will...I'd be willing to suggest that there's more technology transfer to be gained by running F1 than there is by modifying an already existing street car to race in a GT series.

[B.Watts]

that is a lot of cooling ducts for the rear tires.

Has nothing to do with cooling the tires...the ducts are there to extract air out of the wheel wells in order to cut down on drag.

...but that big wing and that body kit just scream rice to me. Too much imho.

Hard not to laugh at you...

The definition of rice is racy looking stuff without a purpose...it can't possibly be "rice" when every part on the car is designed in CFD software and the wind tunnel to make the car as fast and slick as possible on the race track.

Rice would be you using the big wing and huge fenders on your street car that has no use for them.

More here: Wow!

Now that's a funny link...a bunch of posters commenting on how cool the wheels look and arguing over whether it has a SMG transmission.

Does that mean this is a mid- or rear-engined race car, and not particularly anything like a production M3 besides the engine block??

The engine is right under the hood where it should be...remember a V8 is 2/3's the length of an inline 6. Looking at how far "back" in the car the cage is placed (see A-pillars), BMW obviously is doing a lot of work to move weight to the rear in this car. The engine is probably right against the firewall and dropped all the way down to the subframe with a dry-sump oil pan.

[SonOfWMB]

Normally it will be placed far back into the engine bay as possible...

The engine is right under the hood where it should be...

Thanks for the info.

My car's gonna need some more fins, vents and ducts.

Jeff

[jknopp44]

I will...I'd be willing to suggest that there's more technology transfer to be gained by running F1 than there is by modifying an already existing street car to race in a GT series.

So you really do think that by racing "cars" such as in F1, that a company will gain more tech knowledge that will actually apply to road cars!!??? I would think that indeed by modifying a street car one could directly show what type of brake and or aero improvements "for example" would benefit a road going car..... I would love to see what actually coorelates from F1 to the street... Indeed the technology in F1 is incredible... but from a cost to benefit standpoint.. I dont see the connection IMHO

[JETninja]

...but that big wing and that body kit just scream rice to me. Too much imho.

Obviously someone that does not watch any Sports Car racing at all. ALMS, LMS, JLMS (ALMS for '08), GTCC, FIA GT, etc all have those large wings and other aero aids, all controled (size and placement) by the sanctioning body's very strict rule book. If you don't take advantage of the rules, then you do not win. It aint no beauty contest!

ps, you got a real cool track in NY ya know? Watkins Glen? Held F1 GP's for years even.....Sports Cars too! Check it out sometime.....

Cheers!

[lucentaz]

2500 lb / 485hp.... I say so !

Is that right??! That's a crazy high lb/hp ratio

[szed]

So you really do think that by racing "cars" such as in F1, that a company will gain more tech knowledge that will actually apply to road cars!!??? I would think that indeed by modifying a street car one could directly show what type of brake and or aero improvements "for example" would benefit a road going car..... I would love to see what actually coorelates from F1 to the street... Indeed the technology in F1 is incredible... but from a cost to benefit standpoint.. I dont see the connection IMHO

Just a few things that's trickled down:

Sequential and now paddle shift gear boxes, turbocharging, wheel and tire construction and compound technology, improved electronic system management efficiency, brake caliper design and rotor material technology. List goes on.

Then there are things you don't readily notice or see in terms of a part or a tangible system like improving the efficiency of various system interactions and design efficiency through improved data analysis tools and construction methods (especially composites) learned from Formula 1. Fatigue analysis of component designs and materials, backed up by real-life evidence in arguably the most grueling test conditions, ect...

Plus you are only thinking in terms of the auto company when in truth it's also the various suppliers to the auto company, many of whom are also involved in either or both OEM and aftermarket manufacture (Beru, Sachs, Koni, Brembo just to name a few) who benefit enormously from the R&D being funded by the auto company.

If you really wanna know some of the details, start reading Racecar Engineering or email BMW Motorsport. Can't be THAT hard to answer your own question.

[B.Watts]

So you really do think that by racing "cars" such as in F1, that a company will gain more tech knowledge that will actually apply to road cars!!??? I would think that indeed by modifying a street car one could directly show what type of brake and or aero improvements "for example" would benefit a road going car..... I would love to see what actually coorelates from F1 to the street... Indeed the technology in F1 is incredible... but from a cost to benefit standpoint.. I dont see the connection IMHO

Absolutely a greater benefit to F1. There aren't that many huge technology breakthroughs in taking a street car and converting it to race under a strict set of guidelines like ALMS. What exactly is going to transfer from this E92 race car to the next M3?

Technology jumps happen in a series like F1 where engineers have more of a clean sheet of paper to start from. The major technology breakthroughs have already occurred on the E92...any changes made to the race car are simply fine tuning the car to go faster. Transmission technology, structural adhesives, composite structures, composite brake rotors, engine technology, etc, etc...those things aren't "developed" for a GT car, they are developed in F1 and find their way down into street cars and GT race cars alike.

[B.Watts]

Is that right??! That's a crazy high lb/hp ratio

There are plenty of club race Porsche's running a much better power/weight ratio than that, and even a few club race BMW's.

[B.Watts]

Sequential and now paddle shift gear boxes

Paddle shift? Yes. Computer controlled manual gearboxes? Yes (but they existed in transfer trucks for years before they ever made it to cars). Sequential? I don't know of any street cars with sequential gear boxes, no matter what BMW and Ferrari want to call them for marketing purposes. They are still H-pattern gear boxes that happen to be shifted by a computer...they aren't sequential at all.

Question: Why did this thread get merged and moved out of the Professional Motorsports forum?!?

[Le Nitro]

it looks great, but with all those fins, doesnt the rear end look like a merc clk?

[dhabes]

Can we move this thread back to the Professional Motorsports forum since this is news about "Professional Motorsports". Maybe then we could avoid the rice comments...

Or are we allowed to just post for sale threads wherever we want and OT posts wherever we want. Consistency...

[terps]

I wonder if it has been out on a track yet?

They must have had it out on the track in testing the design.

[szed]

Can we move this thread back to the Professional Motorsports forum since this is news about "Professional Motorsports". Maybe then we could avoid the rice comments...

+3 to that. Please.

[RJ's325ITS]

Has nothing to do with cooling the tires...the ducts are there to extract air out of the wheel wells in order to cut down on drag..

Thus leading to a higher cooling rate

[bassrebel]

needs ltw's...

[dhabes]

Thus leading to a higher cooling rate

What Brian is saying is that cooling the tires is not the primary function. Aerodynamics is the key function and cooling the tires is an added benefit.

[ZUUD BYE]

The crappy part is that it wont be until 09.... =(

'08 season will go by fast - as always. Then you'll wake up and it will be 2009 with roaring V8 BIMMERS mopping up GT2 in ALMS- just like the old days!!
rahal.jpg

[jknopp44]

[quote=dhabes;12046217]Can we move this thread back to the Professional Motorsports forum since this is news about "Professional Motorsports".

+4 to this as well... .



I love yacking on and on about this kind of stuff... Good thread....