Photo: Jon Sibal
BMW recently announced that the current Z4 GT3 model will be replaced in motorsport events next year by a new car, the M6 GT3, reassuring the fans of the brand that their motorsport endeavors won’t stop anytime soon. But how about an i8 GT3?
At first it sounds like a crazy idea. BMW already denied the crossbreeding of the i and M sub-brands and any plans to do so in the near future. Furthermore, it would be a matter of pride to enter a racing event where everyone has meaty V8s to drive around and you get to challenge them with a 1.5-liter 3-cylinder engine, wouldn’t it?
Well, only for the close minded. The thing is, the electric motor working with the internal combustion one is doing a hell of a job and together the two proved that they can keep up with much bigger, more powerful mean guys.
The problem, however, would be the weight factor. The added pounds of the electric motor and the batteries would make a big difference in a sport where even one gram could make a difference in the end result of a race.
Carrying around 200,000 of those grams around doesn’t look like a good prospect in light of these facts, does it?
Even so, the rendering created by Jon Sibal allows us to dream and imagine a better future, one where we’re still enjoying motorsports that aren’t using electric motors alone. At the rate legislators are proposing to cut CO2 emissions these days, it would be of little wonder if they ended up forbidding motorsports altogether.
Hopefully, hybrid cars like the i8 will step up and allow us to hear an internal combustion engine for a couple more years at the very least, until all we have to watch racing are battery powered cars like in Formula E.
Well, only for the close minded. The thing is, the electric motor working with the internal combustion one is doing a hell of a job and together the two proved that they can keep up with much bigger, more powerful mean guys.
The problem, however, would be the weight factor. The added pounds of the electric motor and the batteries would make a big difference in a sport where even one gram could make a difference in the end result of a race.
Carrying around 200,000 of those grams around doesn’t look like a good prospect in light of these facts, does it?
Even so, the rendering created by Jon Sibal allows us to dream and imagine a better future, one where we’re still enjoying motorsports that aren’t using electric motors alone. At the rate legislators are proposing to cut CO2 emissions these days, it would be of little wonder if they ended up forbidding motorsports altogether.
Hopefully, hybrid cars like the i8 will step up and allow us to hear an internal combustion engine for a couple more years at the very least, until all we have to watch racing are battery powered cars like in Formula E.
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