Hillclimbing is one of the older forms of motorsport that is not as popular in North America as it is in Europe. There, the FIA-sanctioned European Hillclimb Championship is a popular championship which attracts its own share of specialized machines. One such machine is this E36-series BMW that was modified by Georg Plasa to win a string of championships in the classes it was entered in at the European Hillclimb Championship. In fact, this same car was champion in its class for 5 years running, being defeated only in 2010.
This car is powered by a V8 engine, but not one from BMW. If is in fact powered by a Judd Formula 3000 engine that features a flat plane crank which is a design trait it has in common with Ferrari engines. 580 horsepower is produced at 10,200 rpm. Yup, 10,200 rpm, which is sport bike territory. That power is fed to a Hewland SGT-S sequential transmission shifted by a Mega-Line shift system.
Other features of the car that made it unbeatable for 5 years are its CTG carbon propshaft, aluminum diff with Drexler LSD, KW 3-way dampers, magnesium uprights, titanium driveshafts, 6/4 piston brake calipers with 355/285 discs, the front being carbon/ceramic discs, Tevis MK20 ABS, 10 and 10.5x18 forged magnesium rims, exclusive use of Poggipolini titanium bolts, carbon body kit including a carbon roof, wind tunnel tested aerodynamics with documentation and Motec display with data aquisition.
The carbon fiber and lightweight components give the car a dry weight of 895 kilos or 1970 pounds. If you calculate the power-to-weight ratio of this car, it comes out to 658 hp per ton. Further use of a performance calculator predicts that it should do 0-60 mph in 2.87 seconds and the quarter mile in 10 seconds. No wonder that the car became, and still is, a sensation.
See the source article here.
No comments:
Post a Comment