BMW
i8 by GRT
Gabura
Racing Technologies (GRT) has recently revealed its new project to redevelop a
BMW i8 to feature a 4.4 litre V8 engine. This was revealed at the 2015
Professional MotorSport World Expo (PMW) in Cologne.
Having
seen a fair share of aftermarket tuners producing their own unique versions of
the BMW i8, none of them have ever dabbled with the sports car’s hybrid
powertrain before. As standard, the BMW i8 features a 231 hp 1.5 litre
TwinPower three-cylinder engine and a 131 hp electric motor. Its total system
output is rated at 362 hp and 570 Nm of torque.
The
regular i8’s figures aren’t bad at all, so good in fact that the sports car
manages to perform its century sprint in just 4.4 seconds. However, the team at
GRT isn’t known to be satisfied easily.
The
German tuner has announced that it will be removing the hybrid powertrain
entirely and retrofitting its version of the i8 with a 4.4 litre TwinPower V8
engine sourced from the BMW M5 and M6. The engine is mounted up front where the
electric motor used to be, paired with a new six-speed sequential transmission.
But
rather than leave things at that, the GRT powertrain will feature a tune-up by
Alpina, adding an extra 200 hp. Do the math, and it all adds up to this i8
featuring nearly 800 hp! Unfortunately, no further performance details were
mentioned.
As
posted on its Facebook page, the GRT team said, “We have revealed our secret
that GRT’s supercar is based on the high-tech and futuristic BMW i8. The great
challenge of the project is to switch the hybrid driveline to pure racing
technology.”
It
continues, “At the PMW Expo, the team of Gabura Racing Technologies gave
visitors an inside view of the development process, everybody can check out the
current state of the project."
