Assumptions
* Given the emissions and fuel economy rules, BMW will not be pursuing an outright power strategy. We shouldn't expect beasts like the Audi RS6 that try to compensate for weight by adding power. We should expect the same power output from the engines or a slight power bump (i.e. 5-10%)
* One of the areas that BMW M will focus on will be weight. Weight the universal evil....it affects acceleration, handling, economy etc.... I would expect the F10 / F12 to weigh less than today's E60 / E63
* BMW M and Formula 1 will be tied at the hips for the foreseeable future. For BMW to capitalize their investment in F1, the M cars will use as much of the technology of the F1 cars as possible. It appears F1 will NOT likely adopt turbo charging but will adopt Kinetic Energy Recovery systems as early as 2009. These KER technologies would be phased in from 2009 to 2013
T-Bone's prediction of the F10 M5 and F12 M6:
Weight:
* M5 - 3800 pounds / M6 - 3500 pounds
Power:
* 550 hp from a normally aspirated V10 (call it Mark II) with more "Efficient Dynamics" technologies from engines like the N54 and N64 (minus the turbos).... direct injection, electric water pumps and new ones like cylinder shut down
Transmission:
* I think the big areas of innovation for BMW M will be materials (to control weight) and the transmission. If you read the article below....F1 will be introducing KER technologies that will seek to recover kinetic and perhaps heat energy from braking. This hybrid type of system is much different than the hybrids we see today that convert kinetic energy to electricity and then store it in a heavy battery only to convert back to kinetic energy later.
* The KER systems have to be much more efficient. They would need to be in the 80-90% efficiency range. While F1 is quite open as to how it will allow manufacturers to implement these technologies, it would make sense for BMW to integrate KER technologies into the transmission / flywheel. There are KER technologies that can be implemented at the wheels....but this would increase overall weight and more importantly, unsprung weight.
* So I predict a MDCT type of transmissions with KER technologies that will add kinetic energy into the system during acceleration to bump effective power from 550 hp to over 600 hp. Also I would expect KER technologies to allow cylinder shutdown to be more effective to vastly improve fuel economy in city environments.
* It is rumored the F1 cars will have a "boost" button to increase torque on track out....but for roadcars, BMW would automate that...probably using the throttle position modulate the torque delivery
* So the new MDCT transmission we see in the M3s is already obsolscent.
If BMW puts together such a package, we should expect to see a car that outhandles and out-acceleraters today's M5 / M6 with a 25% improvement in fuel economy.
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