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September 25, 2005

    BMW to launch Supercar Z10                                 

We may not see this car till 2009 but that won’t stop it from being an instant hit when it arrives. The reason is simple; the new BMW Z10 will be the first car to follow in the footsteps of the legendary M1. Back in the eighties, for only a couple of years, BMW unleashed onto the World the M1, that car had a mildly Pantera like shape but it was a BMW. The car was a huge success although BMW built a mere 455 of them and only sold them from 1979 till 1982. Even though, thanks to models like the M3, BMW is considered a sports car company, they actually don’t currently build any over the top super cars. They do build some wicked fast sedans with both the M5 andM6 recording 0 to 60 times in the low fours. Those cars use a V-10 5 liter engine that produces 493 horsepower. This same engine will be slightly tweaked to bump up the horsepower to 550. This powerhouse should be sufficient to give the Z10 similar performance to that of the Ford GT and the next generation Acura NSX.

Current renderings of the future NSX and the BMW Z10 have the cars looking like close cousins. Both will be mid engine super cars that will rely equally on their low weight and their powerful V-10 engines to deliver whopping performance. They both have a low to the ground ultra wide stance futuristic look. The reason for this coincidence is simple; this design has emerged as the style of choice among those rarefied enough to afford a super car. One reason why the $453k McLaren Mercedes was a wash out when it came to sales was that it didn’t look all that different then the CL600. The mid-engine design gets that breath of F1 race car that high end enthusiasts have come to expect.

To achieve true F1 performance the BMW Z10 will be rear wheel drive and will use almost exclusively carbon fiber and aluminum components. This less is more strategy will keep the weight under 2,400 pounds. Initially BMW had wanted to keep weight under 2,000 pounds with the use of a 3.6 liter 440 horsepower V-8, but when the V-10 was built and turned out to be the uber-engine winning the coveted engine of the year award BMW felt they had to include it in the car that will be the BMW flagship for some years to come. When you consider that the M5 weighing in at 4012 pounds has produced near 4 second 0 to 60 times we can only wonder how fast this car, with ten percent more power and 40 percent less weight, is really going to be.

- Automotive Insider
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