Germany's touring car series has revised the rule book for this season, sending
the three participating manufacturers back to the drawing board. And this is
what BMW came up with.
It's the new M4 DTM, and while it's based closely on
the outgoing model that won the drivers' championship in 2014 and 2016, and the
constructors' in 2014 and '15, it's been substantially upgraded for the season
ahead.
It's more powerful: larger air
restrictors means the 4.0-liter naturally aspirated V8 now produces in excess
of 500 horsepower. It's also more aerodynamically efficient, sitting lower to
the tarmac with a new dual-element rear wing (among other aero changes).
The carbon-fiber brake discs provide more stopping
power than before, and while many suspension components have been standardized,
they can still be adjusted for specific tracks. So can the transmission,
incidentally: while the sequential gearbox incorporates six gears at a time,
the race engineers can choose from eleven ratios depending on the type of
track.
It even has blue-cross headlights like the original
M3 DTM and 3.0 CSL. But it'll take more than that to defeat the Audi RS5 and
Mercedes-AMG C63 that have both been redesigned for this year as well.