The 2020 model M3 is spotted outside the factory walls again as the prototype gets another chance to stretch its legs both on the streets and then at the track.
Although 2020 is seemingly far off, the men behind the curtain are working day in and day out on the G-80 project (as it’s internally designated) to ready it for its debut, according to Car Magazine.
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The BMW line is known for, as they proclaim, driving machines on nearly unmatched caliber. The 2020 M3 model has been buzzing long and hard enough now that there are very high expectations of what the new driving machine will bring to the table, and how well it will fare against its predecessors. Although we don't know much at this moment, the body-concealing wrap could do nothing to mask the massive rotors tucked comfortably inside the wheels at each corner of the car. It appears BMW is adhering to their mantra of automotive design and everything we see so far confirms our hopes of the highest performer in the M3 line yet.
The pressure to perform is possibly greater than it has ever been for luxury performance automakers to leave their mark on a fossil-fueled performance legacy. Although, these coming years of production are likely the last of the gas-burners; we can still expect to enjoy petroleum-based fuels for the near foreseeable future. Either way, an increasing number of luxury-performance manufacturers are systematically switching out gasoline powertrains for alternatively-powered ones. The closely related M4, for example, is slated to go electric on the next redesign.
Gasoline fans have nothing to fear this time around for the M3 – the 2020 model will feature a variant of the current twin-turbo 3.0L with a base output projected to be at least equal to the limited-edition M4 GTS at 495 HP, but many project the car to produce somewhere comfortably in the low to mid 500s. Even if it fails to break the five-hundred threshold, the projected numbers, even on the conservative side, already overpower the twin-turbo RS5 and are on par with the C63 S AMG. Newly engineered components and material substitutions will make the new model lighter in addition to being more powerful.
It’s likely an all-wheel drivetrain will be employed to channel power to all four wheels and leverage every bit of tractive effort from the four corners of the car while a 48-volt hybrid system could likely contribute to power. On the gasoline side of things, electrically-spooled turbos lead the cutting edge of internal-combustion technology in an impressive display of engineering, even for a luxury-performance line. Expect the M3 to fit nicely into the legacy’s comfortably worn pair of shoes however it comes.