News: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe to Have 302-HP Turbo Six

The new 2007 BMW 335i coupe has 302 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque and

breaks ground as the first turbocharged gasoline-powered BMW in

decades.

BY MIKE DUSHANE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTA LEHMANN/HIDDEN IMAGE

March 2006

 

The BMW 335i coupe that will appear later this year may look like

nothing more than the latest chapter in the 3-series coupe book, but

there are some radical changes under the skin. The 335i (the C goes

away on this coupe as it did on the 650i for the 2006 model year) will

have a 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six with piezoelectric direct

injection. The symmetrical turbos are relatively small and each feed

three cylinders. Power output is up only 47 hp over the normally

aspirated version of the same 3.0-liter six found in the 330i, but BMW

claims that turbo lag is all but avoided and - more importantly -

peak torque increases 34 percent and is available from 1500 to 5800

rpm. BMW estimates that the twin-turbo setup gives the 335i's six the

power and torque characteristics of a 4.0-liter V-8 with 10 percent

less fuel consumption and 145 fewer pounds. BMW expects the 335i to

shave more than half a second from the 330i's 0-to-60 time, which

should put it in the low-five-second range - scarcely more than the

outgoing E46 M3. The 335i is expected to carry a base price of

approximately $42,000 when it goes on sale this summer. The 2008 M3 is

expected to have a 400-hp naturally aspirated V-8 and cost $10,000

more.

 

Why, you ask, would BMW go to all the trouble of making this complex

turbo engine when a V-8 would be a simpler and purer means to the same

end? As worldwide petroleum reserves decline and prices go up,

efficiency becomes paramount, even for performance and luxury vehicles.

As worldwide emissions standards become increasingly strict,

high-performance diesels - recently thought to be the next big thing

- become less feasible. Mercedes-Benz also recently announced a

piezoelectric direct-injection gasoline six which is naturally

aspirated - for now. Dr. Thomas Weber, Mercedes-Benz's top

engineering and development officer, confirms that turbocharged

smaller-displacement engines are in Mercedes-Benz's near-term future as

well. Turbos are here to stay.

:blink:

Pentru cine se intreaba, 295 lb-ft = 400 nm.

super ,era si normal zic eu :blink: