S65B44 was the natural extension as seen in the GTS/CRT. Want to know how the new M3/4 performs? Look at the GTS/CRT, pretty much the same times that have come out so far for straight line and N-ring time should also be similar, despite the huge torque “disadvantage” of the 444 bhp stroked engine. German and US tuners are with software/intake revisions are getting 440 bhp S65B40 with stock exhaust. Would only have software, DCT programming (to skip gears), new cams (already exist), crank/ cylinder de-activation and I don’t think It would be that much more expensive considering the heavy lifting R&D was done in the early part of the 2000 decade and 470 should be easily achievable with better fuel efficiency. The engine was WAY ahead of its time and has some features still non-existent in current road cars. Don’t see how companies like Porsche can do it with brand new engines and not have these “infeasibility issues” and their profit margins are growing over the years...this would have simply been an extension of what already existed.
Also my point is BMW should have not been as greedy and not striven for the extra $2k per vehicle they’ll probably be making on the new car vs the old. The formula I described would probably get the M3/4 to win every comparo, like its predecessors, which would probably have increased sales of other BMW cars (will outsell the M3/4 by 7-8 to one).
Love how everyone thinks they can get a mustang and think they could keep up with an M3, based on Randy’s time and its so obvious he totally man-handles the car on the track to extract everything and the thing is not planted/confidence inspiring based on the videos (and based on the prior gen Mustangs I’ve driven). In the hands of your typical track amateur, the results would have been completely different. Even the Boss 302s, C6 vettes, while very fast in the right hands, are not so easy to drive on technical tracks. Everyone who thinks that Mustangs are comparable to M3s spend some time on a difficult track and see how important handling, feel, engine feedback, throttle modulation and linear/smooth application of power are. Mustangs can be beaten by E36s with a few suspension mods and a tightened nut behind the wheel.
Agreed the car I described doesn’t exist at BMW. That is a problem (or quasi problem) to me and a lot of others, but we’re probably in the minority and given a blank slate on considering a 70K+ car, I would probably still buy it if I had to make a decision today, or be in my top 3 to consider (anticipating the future competition). So my comments are not to take away from the M3/4s performance, but I think BMW could have done a more creative job and give up some money making and have a killer not only in its own category, but in higher echelon categories, in effect a halo car for the masses (similar to the Ms of the past) not in terms only of performance but also in driver experience/gratification.
Quote:
Originally Posted by M4TW
So .... 460-470 bhp on the top end, improved fuel economy, 420 bhp on the downshift, and all for the same price eh?!?!
Well ...  Hot Dog ... sign me up!!!!
Are you kidding me? I would LOVE an engine like that in my M4. Imagine, a more fuel efficient engine cranking out that many horses in a high revving, sweet sounding V8. My M4 would haul ass like nobody's business and there would be no worry about any of the drawbacks associated with lazy-assed turbo charging!!!
It just sounds too good to be true. So I'm not buying it. Literally. I'm not buying it. It's not an option for my M4 because it doesn't exist. It doesn't exist I suspect because the Dream Engine that you are describing is likely neither realistic nor feasible, or it would have been built by the engineering masters over in the ///M Division. But you know more than they do I guess. 
Instead the path you are describing - considering that the platform is not being built by a division with an unlimited budget for buyers with unlimited budgets - likely would lead to a thirstier engine with modest performance gains that would be put to shame by the new S55.
Lest you think that the previous model's throttle response and power delivery was the Shangri-La of motorsport consider this Motor Trend article pitting your vaulted M3 against a standard-issue Mustang:
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...m3_comparison/
Ouch.
The new IS-F is supposedly coming out with a 5.0 liter NA V8. It will have north of 400 horses, but they are not saying how much. Perhaps it might be a better metric of what might have been.
Time will tell.
Meanwhile, I will be enjoying all that lovely torque on tap and you can hug your e90 M3. |