Alpina has improved the BMW range. One of them was supposed to be a sports plug-in hybrid i8, but in the end the project came to an end.
–
A year and a half ago, information emerged that Alpina – BMW’s car fitter – intended to take on a plug-in hybrid three-cylinder sports car BMW i8. He would not only get a four-cylinder, but mainly about 100 more horses and a handful of exterior and interior modifications to it.
The modified version was to receive a two-liter four-cylinder, which in combination with electric motors would achieve a system power of 460 horsepower and 700 newton meters of torque. Installing a larger unit under the hood would not be such a problem, but…
–
–
In an interview with the BMW Blog, Andreas Bovensiepen, the company’s boss, has now revealed that working with the technology was not entirely easy. Not only did Alpina have to replace the standard intercooler with a larger one, but it also had to install two more intercoolers in the front fenders to cool the equipment.
––
–
In addition, the engineers found that the standard six-speed automatic transmission in the i8 would not “take” a larger portion of power, so it would need to be replaced by an automatic eight-speed Aisin. A larger engine with a larger gearbox required the use of a stronger subframe, but this would mean an increase in weight of at least 100 kilograms and especially the repetition of crash tests, which was another significant complication for the modifier.
–
–
The last imaginary nail was the tuning of the software. It was set up for a standard three-cylinder, and deploying a larger engine would require a completely new calibration, which was costly and costly. Therefore, the company decided that it was not interested in cooperating in the project.
Interestingly, Andreas Bovensiepen’s statement differs slightly from the words he gave in an interview with Jalopnik about a year ago. In it, he claimed that the Alpina i8 never saw the light of day, as BMW entered vigorously into its creation. The Munichers allegedly asked the editors to end the project, as its sharp version would did not correspond to the “ecological identity” of the BMW i models. Hard to say where the truth is…
– .
:quality(80)/cdn-kiosk-api.telegraaf.nl/8231aa74-2e49-11eb-a7d6-0255c322e81b.JPG?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1)
