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      07-19-2013, 07:38 AM   #1
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Post BMW F80 M3 / F82 M4 to Debut at Detroit + Lightweight Details (via M CEO Interview)

BIMMERPOST
     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com
Motor Trend: Would you agree that BMW M and Mercedes AMG and Audi Quattro RS cars are getting more similar – the move to turbos, the increasing prevalence of all-wheel drive?

Friedrich Nitschke: Well, turbo engines greatly cut fuel consumption and add torque, and you can’t do that with naturally aspirated engines. But the M philosophy is to combine the best high-rev features with the torque of a turbo. The M5 goes to 7400 rpm. I’m convinced that most race cars will have turbos. And the new M3 will have one of the best engines we have ever done.

MT: And all-wheel drive?

FN: As to all-wheel drive, we use it on M Performance Automobiles [and the X5 M and X6 M] but it’s not necessary on M cars. On the new M3 it would add 80 kg [176 pounds] and the steering would not be pure any more. It’s not worth it. The car has 50:50 weight distribution and new traction management and a new differential, a development of the principle of the M5′s, with torque vectoring, so it has excellent traction.

MT: That’s twice you have called it the “new M3.” We were expecting M4.

FN: Well the M3 is the icon, everybody is waiting for the fifth generation and I will bring one for absolutely certain, a sedan. Yes the coupe and convertible will be called M4.

MT: But the M4 coupe is first?

FN: I think both M3 and M4 will be at the Detroit Show [BIMMERPOST edit: Detroit Show starts January 13, 2014].

MT: Each M3 has always had fewer cylinders than the M5 of the same era, right?

FN: Yes [smiles].

MT: And I never heard of a seven-cylinder engine…

FN: [Laughs]

MT: Tell me about light weight. Is the new M4 lighter than a 435i?

FN: Absolutely. We will use lightweight parts in the places where it matters, at the ends of the car and high up, and in high-rpm parts of the powertrain. A carbon fiber roof, of course, and aluminum and magnesium and carbon fiber in the crash zones. An aluminum hood, and a new carbon fiber trunk lid.

Full interview: http://wot.motortrend.com/interview-...m4-387337.html

Also see:
F80 news/updates
F82 news/updates
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