Official ReleaseL The BMW Sauber F1 Team walks away from Spa with a further nine championship points in its pocket. This is exactly the total the team has collected in all the previous eleven races this year. While Robert Kubica improved from fifth on the grid to fourth in the Belgian Grand Prix, his team mate, Nick Heidfeld, was not so happy as he started third and finished fifth in the race. The team had the pace to record the second and third fastest laps in the race.
BMW has released it’s first look at both a new design language and a new focus on efficient dynamics. In this case the latter means 351bhp and 590lb ft of torque. Yet this new concept gets over 60 mpg. We’ll have much more on the new Vision concept (including a video tour) in the coming hours. However until now, we have pics and the official release below.
Official Release: For decades, BMW has made the reduction of emissions and fuel consumption a key part of its product development strategy, just as enhancements to the dynamic ability of each BMW have been a lasting, sustained brand value. BMW’s EfficientDynamics engineering philosophy – the pursuit of an enhanced, athletic driving experience while simultaneously lowering the consumption and emissions of each vehicle – resulted in the most dramatic drop in fleet consumption of any automaker from 1990 through 2005, according to an Environmental Defense study.
Now, the BMW Vision concept car clearly demonstrates that the EfficientDynamics objectives are fully compatible when applied to a sports car. Conceived as a 2+2-seater with plug-in full-hybrid technology, this unique car combines the performance of a BMW M vehicle with a standard of fuel efficiency and emission management that exceeds even the current levels achieved by the latest small cars. This outstanding result is made possible by the combination of BMW ActiveHybrid components with an extremely economical combustion engine, and outstanding aerodynamic qualities.
Wednesday we saw the first glimpse of the Vision EfficientDynamics concept car destined for Frankfurt. Today BMW’s Frankfurt IAA Motorshow blog has released another teaser of the concept revealing a few more visual details. It is obvious that this is a design study and display vehicle for future drivetrains and use of materials, as the rear light displayed here would never make it to a production vehicle.
This is an official image from the same people that operate BMW-web.tv, expect more information and images to be released this Sunday.
Has the time of the BMW Dual Clutch Transmission come and gone? Sources are indicating that the recently introduced DCT may be such a niche product that its time may be short lived. Porsche is feeling the same way with the famed PDK. The dual-clutch setup is fantastic in its implementation but remains an extremely niche product. According to Automotive News, transmission specialist ZF Friedrichshafen AG does not see a mass market for the dual-clutch technology that it sells to Porsche. Part of the issue is the cost to performance proposition of building a DCT that can handle lots of torque. With today’s performance cars increasing torque exponentially it leaves little market for the DCT.
With the introduction of the X5 and X6 ///M versions using a technically updated automatic transmission and cylinder deactivation to produce shifts as fast as a DCT the writing was on the wall for a possible end to the BMW DCT. What this means now is that in the short term we will more than likely not see future products offered with a DCT, with a shift to 8 speed automatics across the line by 2013. We have been told not to assume anything in regards to current offerings but that the ///M3 and DCT are a perfect match.
All you F10 ///M5 anticipators take note- this seals the deal that a DCT will NOT be in that vehicle!
This coming Sunday the BMW Rahal Letterman team will compete in the Mobil 1 Grand Prix of Mosport located just outside Toronto, Ontario Canada. After placing 1 and 2 at Road America the competition will be gunning for the BMWs at the fastest track in ALMS.
We will be making the 10 hour + trek (via BMW) to the track to cover the race in depth while also digging a bit deeper into the inner workings of the race vehicle. We are enthusiasts; we have Castrol in our veins and specialized compounds on the soles of our shoes, we love this stuff! There is no better way to express our love of what we know and think BMW is all about than talking with the team and experiencing the vehicles at the track as only we can. We can’t get enough of BMW Motorsport and we are fairly sure that you are right there with us. Join us at the track or watch the race this coming Sunday, Aug. 30th, at 3pm EST on Speed and give some added support to the team and the brand.
BimmerFile is dedicated to bringing you the most interesting news, links and reviews related to the BMW brand and it's vehicles.
We believe in the old school BMW ownership experience. We believe in garage nights with a six pack and some friends. We believe in 2002s, in E30 M3s and E34 540s with the 6 speed. We believe in progress in both design and engineering but we haven't lost sight of what made the brand and its products great all those years ago. And yes, we believe in the manual transmission.
We long for the days of the wave and for the days of roll-up windows. Yet we love the gadgets on the inside and the xenons on the outside.
In short, we can't get enough of BMWs. This is BimmerFile.
Sections: Motorsport, Official News Aug 31st, 2009 1 Comment 
