Monday, May 30, 2011

BMW, BMW Alpina B6 GT3 Race

BMW, BMW Alpina B6 GT3 Race

Based on the last-gen BMW 7-series, the 500-hp B7 supersedan was the last product available in the U.S. from tuner/carmaker/BMW specialists Alpina. A B7 building upon the all-new 2009 7-series is on its way—it debuts at this year’s Geneva show—but Alpina hasn’t yet confirmed that it will make it stateside. That’s the bad news.

The good news? If you’re an American and absolutely have to have a new Alpina—and happen to own a racing team—the company confirms to us that its 6-series-based B6 GT3 race car, which is also making its first public showing in Geneva, is available for any U.S. racing team interested in campaigning the car. Alpina also says the B6 GT3 will be made available to collectors and other clients of the company.

The B6 GT3 marks Alpina’s official return to racing following a 20-year hiatus and is intended to compete in the FIA European GT3 championship, where the company will field two factory cars against models from Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, and Porsche, among others. The Alpina factory drivers have yet to be announced.

The B6 GT3 is motivated by a 530-hp, 4.4-liter supercharged V-8 with 535 lb-ft of torque and a six-speed Xtrac sequential gearbox. Weight is less than 3000 pounds, and Alpina says the racer can jet to 62 mph from a standstill in 3.9 seconds. Top speed—notated as occurring on the Nürburgring Nordschleife—is a claimed 177 mph.

No comments:

Post a Comment