Racing on public roads has become more and more frequent these days, with a lot of heavily modified sports cars being engaged in dangerous burn outs and drag races.

This is exactly what happened with the driver of this nitrous E36 BMW M3 who believed that his ride was more powerful than the 1,300 HP Volkswagen Golf RS V10.

As we can see in the video below, the driver of the M3 was reckless enough to push the pedal to the medal, activating the car`s nitrous in an attempt to fast pass the Golf RS seen here.

Both models are found on a freeway, with the M3 driver losing control while trying to tackle the Golf model by activating the nitrous mode. In his attempt, the driver lost control and the car`s rear stepped out the freeway, even if he tried to gain control by hard breaking. Eventually, the driver hit the barrier extremely hard, flying and spinning throughout the air, reaching the opposite lane; fortunately for him, he got away with just a few bruises.

The impact could have been harder and the driver could have suffered serious injuries if it hadn’t been for the additional roll cage and other safety measures inside the cabin.

The E36 BMW M3 seen here “was” powered by a 5.0-liter V10 and fully packed with nitrous injection, while its “opponent”, a Volkswagen Golf RS V10 was taking its power from a 5.0-liter twin-turbo V10 with whopping 1,300 horsepower, which is just about enough to take on any hypercar available out there on the market today, not to mention an E36 M3.

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Marcus M.

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The post E36 BMW M3 Gets Impressive Wrecking while Attempting to Tackle Much Powerful VW Golf RS V10 appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

Four of the most powerful and impressive cars in the world have recently gathered to take place at a road trip which went all the way from California to Nevada. The so called road trip was also video shot by the guys from the UK`s famous CAR magazine.

We are talking about the BMW i8 setting against the Lamborghini Huracan, the Dodge SRT Hellcat and the Ford Mustang. We have to admit that there are no set standards to say which one is the most powerful, as each one comes with its kind performance and innovation technology under the hood.

Take for instance the BMW i8, which is quite revolutionary in terms of performance, as it packs a conventional 1.5-liter turbocharged inline three-cylinder engine, backed up by an electric motor. The overall power it produces stands at 357 horsepower and 570 Nm of torque, which makes the hybrid sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.4 seconds, at a top speed of 250 km/h.

On the other hand, the Lamborghini Huracan is packing a huge 5.2-liter naturally-aspirated unit, developing 602 horsepower and 413 lb-ft of torque, the unit being hooked the a 7-speed DCT.

Next, the Dodge SRT Hellcat is another suitable competitor, also set to be the fastest road sports car, and that due to its huge 6.2-liter V8 supercharged unit, which produces 707 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque. The whole power is demonstrated by the 3.0 seconds reached from 0 to 100 km/h.

Finally, the Ford Mustang will be powered by a V6 unit under the hood, developing a great output of 300 horsepower and 365 Nm of torque, in the cheapest version.

Enjoy the fantastic video with one of the most impressive muscle cars in the world, displaying their true identity on the roads!

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW i8 vs Lamborghini Huracan vs Dodge SRT Hellcat vs Ford Mustang – Video Revealed appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

With the 2012 season of Formula 1 being one of the most exciting ever, there’s more and more attention turning to the king of motorsports.

Volkswagen and BMW have both been rumored to return to F1. VW repeatedly denied any plans to do so and it is only know that the Bavarians are going the same route.

Jens Marquardt, current motorsport division director for BMW denied any plans to return to Formula 1, not only for next season but over the mid-term as well.

Obviously, nobody can say anything for sure on the long term but the general idea is that we’re not going to see a BMW roundel on a Formula 1 single seater very soon.

Motorsport Aktuell is a Swiss magazine that interviewed Jens Marquardt and he confirmed that there’s no plan as the rumors have been speaking of.

The July 2009 decision on F1 for BMW will still be in place. That’s when the company decided to pull out of the sport the last time.

BMW have been involved in F1 back in the 50s and 60s as a team. Since then they’ve also been involved in the sport in more modern times but only as engine suppliers.

Unfortunately, the teams they partnered up with never really stood up to the performance of the engines. It’s quite common for BMW to have the greatest powerplant on the grid.

That may be the case but it hasn’t helped results and, ultimately, poor chassis performance was what led to them backing out of the sport altogether.

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Marcus M.

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The post BMW won’t be returning to Formula 1 very soon appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

There’s two types of car makers out there, the German ones and everybody else. Of the Germans, only one strikes a beat in our hearts.

That very same one, a Bavarian company called BMW, has just published a video in celebration of return to the most… German of all motor sports.

After a hiatus of 20 years, BMW is returning to the German touring car championship known as DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters).

BMW’s entry into the DTM will be taken care of by a brand new racing car that looks something like an M3 and which has a similar engine.

Officially known as the BMW M3 DTM it has a 4.0 liter V8 engine which develops 480 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque.

If you think that’s too little a gain over the standard car’s 4.0 lite V8 powerplant, let’s please remember there’s the issue of an air restrictor to consider.

Let’s also remember that this power is harnessed by a six-speed sequential transmission and that the car is very light and very aerodynamic.

One of these BMW M3 DTMs only weighs in at 1.200 kg (2.645 lbs) and probably generates a similar amount of downforce once it gets to around 155 or 165 mph.

Top speed should be somewhere around 175-180 mph and the sprint from 0 to 62 happens in just 3 seconds.

The special BMW we see in the video will debut this weekend in the opening race of the DTM. It’s held at Hockenheim at we hope the Bimmers will put on a good show.

As usual, some cars from Audi and Mercedes will also be littering the track.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post Video: BMW’s return to the DTM appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

Yes, the Geneva Motor Show is all about style, presence and looks. Yes, racing cars shouldn’t really be seen there.

Having taken a second look at the 2012 BMW M3 DTM racer I’d like to disagree. Something that looks this menacing and purposeful is beautiful.

I will admit, it doesn’t have very much to do with the actual E92 BMW M3 they claim its based on but who cares. It looks awesome and it even has the right colors.

If you think about it, no matter the sponsor, no matter the livery, it would’ve looked bad to have a BMW M3 racer at the Geneva Motor Show with any other colors than that.

Powering this low monster is a relative of the 4.0 liter V8 engine that powers the E92 M3 only now it develops 480 horsepower.

The grunt is thrown at the rear wheels through a race-spec six-speed sequential gearbox. Team this setup with some racing slicks and the figures chucked out are more than decent.

0 to 62 should take around 3 seconds and the top speed is around 186. A de-restricted E92 M3 can probably hit a higher top speed but it won’t be producing anywhere near the amount of downforce this is.

2012 will be an interesting season to watch in DTM as the big stars this time are the biggest and feistiest of Germans; BMW, Mercedes and Audi.

The start of this year’s season is scheduled to take place at the Nurburgring at the end of next month.

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Marcus M.

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The post Geneva: 2012 BMW M3 DTM racer appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

Touring car racing is one of the latest forms of motorsport where the metal on track looks a lot like the one on the streets.

Among them, the German series, the DTM is one of the most impressive and everything about it seems to be infested with power and efficiency.

If that’s what you look for in a car, few provide it as well as BMW products so it’s no surprise to see them involved in the sport.

For a short period of time let’s not focus on the actual racers and instead take a look at the DTM’s safety car. For the 2012 season it’ll be a special BMW M3 E92.

To my mind, any edition of the BMW M3 can be called special but this one in particular has a few tricks up its sleeve.

The changes made in order to turn the BMW M3 into a safety car are minimal; there’s a new ventilated hood, a carbon fiber spoiler and the series specific top warning light assembly.

Quite likely the BMW M3 DTM Safety Car will also receive a special set of racing tires which should keep it as stuck to the ground as possible.

Inside the new version of the M3 BMW added a few other track day specific treats, a couple of racing seats from Recaro and a full roll cage.

As you can see, there’s no change to the important stuff about a car and as you’d imagine, safety car duties will be covered without too much stress despite this.

After all, a stock E92 M3 will run circles on a track round plenty of track-day oriented vehicles.

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Marcus M.

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The post 2012 DTM season safety car is a BMW M3 appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

The BMW 1 Series M Coupe is one of the best cars of all time and certainly one of the most raved about models of recent times.

Some fans out there love the BMW 1 Series M Coupe as if its the Messiah and would not change anything about it.

Unfortunately, not everybody agrees with these fans and when Global Concept Automobile decided to take one into the racing.

Whenever a production car is turned into a racer, there’s plenty of components that need to be changed in order to handle the conditions but what GC Automobile did is beyond belief.

Technically called a silhouette race car, this racing version of the BMW 1 Series M Coupe is miles away from the car we all know and love.

Naturally, the wheels, tires, brakes, suspension setup and all of the interior was changed but things go a lot further than that.

I’m not even talking about the wider, lower, aerodynamic body which has robbed away some of the looks of the BMW 1 Series M Coupe.

I’m talking about the racing team taking away the very heart of the 1 Series M Coupe, its engine and gearbox. Whereas we all loved the 3.0 liter twin-turbo straight six and the manual gearbox, apparently it won’t cut it on the track.

Instead, GC Automobile opted for a 6.2 liter Chevrolet V8 engine with 550 horsepower and a sequential gearbox. No doubt the performance is of a different level but we just can’t help but disapprove of the decision to build this car.

A silhouette racer has nothing to do with the production model it resembles and thus they could have made it any other shape they wanted.

The French racing team have ruined the BMW 1 Series M Coupe. It has a reputation for being a car that’s fun, that makes you happy… not some serious racer that is unrelated.

As seen on jonsibal

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Marcus M.

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The post BMW 1 Series M Coupe goes racing appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

Tom Coronel (38) will start the 2011 World Touring Car Championship with a BMW 320 TC. After six seasons of WTCC with Dutch driver Tom Coronel is enthusiastic about this new opportunity. Following two days of testing at the Vallelunga track near Rome with the new BMW 320 TC of the Italian team ROAL Motorsport, the driver is very confident for the upcoming season. “The new 1.6 litre turbo engine has a great throttle response and provides a lot of power.“, the 38-year old driver says.

New regulations forced BMW Motorsport to adapt all their WTCC cars. The rearwheel driven car will have a 1.6 litre turbo engine, with an output of around 315 horsepower. Coming from the front wheel driven Seats, Coronel had to adapt a little. “For me, the test was a good way to familiarise with the new car. The different character of the turbo engine and, of course, the rear-wheel drive, forced me to adapt my driving style.”

Tom Coronel doesn’t expect any problems with the rear wheel driven cars. He has a long list of experience with rear wheel driven touring cars and Formula cars. The hight of his career was winning the Formula Nippon championship in 1999. After that he tested for Formula 1 team Arrows, raced the ETCC with BMW and won the Independants Trophy of the WTCC two times. He is also a frequent competitor of Le Mans. 2011 will mark a new chapter in his racingcareer. Lead by team principals and former racing drivers Roberto Ravaglia and Umberto Grano, ROAL Motorsport will be running Tom Coronel’s BMW this season. Ravaglia won the WTCC title in 1987 with BMW.

Tom Coronel continues “In this combination, several podium results should be within reach. It won’t be easy, but the potential is there.”

The FIA WTCC calendar consists of 12 raceweekends with 24 races and will kick off at the Brazilian circuit of Curitiba on March 20th.

A video of Tom Coronel testing the BMW 320 TC at Vallelunga last week is available:

Stay connected with BMWCoop for later information related to this topic.

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Marcus M.

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The post Tom Coronel will start the 2011 WTCC for BMW appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

While BMW has a proper racing heritage the 6 Series is not one of the models that contributed much to it.

The car we have here may change things a bit as it represents the result of a project destined to prep the car for GT1 racing regulations.

The car starts out as a BMW 6 Series which then goes to specialist tuner Alpina to become the B6. Should that particular car be lucky enough, it might just end up being turned into an Alpina B6 GT3 which will see all of its life as a racer.

That is unless it ends up in the hands of the guys over at Aurora Racing Designs which will turn it into a GT1 spec racing car to comply with the new rules there. “The guys” are former McLaren engineer Nicholas Galbraith and former Alpina racing designer Andreas Puschel.

Going from GT3 to GT1 is a logical step for the car and Aurora Racing have taken over this project in an attempt not to affect Alpina’s customer GT3 racing program. The experience of the people behind Aurora Racing Designs will see the B6 GT1 going through some serious aerodynamic, structural and suspension changes in order to make it competitive.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post Alpina B6 GT1 by Aurora Racing appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

BMW’s 17th Art Car, a racing tradition spanning more than 35 years, was officially unveiled at a special event last night at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France.

The artist chosen by the Bavarians for this creation is American Jeff Koon, who first showed us a sketch of his creation almost a couple of months ago.

The final version is here and is actually ahead of schedule to our rejoice and it is based on the BMW M3 GT2 Racer. This racing version of the E92 M3 has already clocked up a momentous win at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring and will now feature this great looking livery at the crucible of endurance racing, the infamous 24 Hours of Le Mans.

According to creator, Jeff Koons, this livery signifies the power and energy that transcends to us from the BMW racing car and his chosen theme is this transcending of the immense power under the bonnet and his ideas to the real world.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans will take place from June 12 to 13 and the preparations undergone for it by the BMW M3 GT2 are as follows, the 4 liter V8 engine is capped at 500 horsepower, the chassis has been upgraded and so have the brakes and weight saving program in order to give the car a fighting chance.

Besides the technology there’s always the people to consider for such an event and BMW’s team for their comeback to Le Mans are Andy Priaulx, Dirk Muller and Dirk Werner.

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Marcus M.

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The post Jeff Koons’ BMW M3 GT2 Art Car Racer Unveiled appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.