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      04-13-2012, 08:19 AM   #24
mkoesel
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swamp2 View Post
We have a winner.

This has been discussed extensively here on the forum. Other manufacturers are sticking with NA such as Audi, Porsche, Ferrari (and no I am not making a direct comparison of BMW to Ferrari...it is still a relevant point).
Hi swamp, good to see you posting here, and I really like this discussion.

Keep in mind, Audi is not sticking with N/A except possibly for the R8. Aside from that car, the RS5 and new RS4 will be the last applications for the 4.2L FSI.

There are also rumors of Porsche moving to turbocharged engines for the base Carrera and Carrera S. Presumably, however, the GT3 family will remain N/A for the forseeable future.

Quote:
By going to DI and other engine "trickery" they are able to significantly green up NA engines. The sole reason BMW M is moving to FI is to have more common engines with more common parts and less parts all of which provide MORE PROFIT. BMW have published many investor reports that highlight their effort in parts reduction and commonality. It's that simple, profit.
There is some truth to this, but it does not fully cover the OP's questions about the possibility of a small displacement V8 TT vs. a V6 TT or an I6 TT.

In fact, BMW has always had more than one displacement V8 engine in their stable until the current generation N63 V8 TT. And, with the N62 and M62 at least, to my knowledge, the differences in parts between the different displacement applications is quite minimal. Just the crank, rods, and block (which is cast the same, but machined differently). However for a potential lower displacement S63, they could even use the same bore size as the the current 4.4L, destroking it only, meaning the block would be identical. This would also give them a very short stroke engine at ~3.0L displacement or so, ideal for revving. Perhaps they could then increase the redline from the current 7200RPM to 8000RPM for more top end power.

Now, I acknowledge that there would still be the issues of weight and size vs. a V6, though an I6 may also have some of those same issues as well. A better solution from an engineering standpoint would obviously be a completely original small displacement V8 design that took advantage of the small ~3.0L displacement to shrink the block down somewhat. Rather like the various custom Hayabusa-based V8s out there. These are very compact and light - lighter than most V6s, and probably even lighter than an N55. This of course, would be very costly. But I am not convinced it would have to be any more costly than a V6 which also be a completely new design. This is partly why I don't believe in the V6 to begin with.
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