Filed under: Aftermarket, Tuners, Coupes, Hybrids/Alternative, Green, BMW
AC Schnitzer GP3.10 LPG powered 3-series hits 318 km/h
Click the image above for more shots of the GP3.10 hammering around Nardo.
You might recall the AC Schnitzer crew trotting out a particularly gaudy BMW 3-series coupe in Frankfurt called the GP3.10, powered by a V10 engine pulled from the M5/M6 running off liquefied petroleum. While the styling of the Bimmer caused a few of us to inadvertently gag while patrolling the floor in Germany, its performance potential – 552 hp and 400 lb.-ft. of torque – showed promise.
Fast forward a few months later, and according to the Schnitzer folks, the GP3.10 set the world record for the fastest gas-powered car in the world. The coupe was brought out to the 13-mile Nardo test track in Southern Italy where it laid down a terminal velocity of 318.1 km/h, or 197 mph. While that's a feat unto itself, even more surprising is AC Schnitzer's claim that some of the technology will filter down to the tuner's products in the future.
[Source: AC Schnitzer]
Gallery: AC Schnitzer GP3.10 at Nardo
PRESS RELEASE
Second World Record in a Row : AC Schnitzer builds fastest gas car
GP3.10 GAS POWERED achieves 318 km/h at Nardo
Nardo, the legendary high speed track, has been the setting for so many record attempts. Once a year at the track in Southern Italy, under the supervision of "CONTINENTAL AG" and in collaboration with the editors of "AUTO BILD sportscars", the Creme de la Creme of tuners fight it out – this year on 20th and 21st October 2007. AC Schnitzer, with its Concept Car GP3.10 GAS POWERED, was the world's first company to turn the event motto "Beyond 300 km/h" into reality with a liquid gas powered vehicle. At the end of the GPS speed measurement on the 13 km long high speed track, which fundamentally is just an enormous circle, the digital instrument display read 318.1 km/h.
This makes the GP3.10 GAS POWERED, based on the current BMW 3-series coupé with a modified M5 engine, officially the world's fastest vehicle with liquid gas fuel. The vehicle is powered by a bivalent ten-cylinder engine delivering 552 HP/406 kW. Last year, AC Schnitzer broke another world record in Nardo with the TENSION. Based on the BMW M6, this has since been the undisputed fastest road-going BMW in the world.
Expectations this year in the Engineering Team were equally high for the new GP3.10 GAS POWERED vehicle. Especially since there were just four weeks between its world premiere at the IAA Frankfurt and the Highspeed Event in Nardo in which to finalise the set-up. A sensation: the AC Schnitzer GP3.10 GAS POWERED is the fastest gas-powered car in the world. This proves that high speeds can be achieved by an alternative route. The eyecatching AC Schnitzer GP3.10 GAS POWERED is a high-performance coupé powered by LPG. Power and efficiency, economy and ecology are here combined in an exciting study.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jared 10:43AM (11/17/2007)
I'm sure it is fast. What they are probably not telling you is that at normal speeds its range is probably less than 200 miles and there is hardly any trunk space left due to the size of the natural gas tanks.
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info 11:41AM (11/17/2007)
Not so. Liquefied natural gas is actually offered by many gas stations in Germany as a substantially cheaper alternative. It sells for about half the price of diesel which in itself is substantially cheaper than gasoline. The converted cars do maintain their standard gas tanks and can run on gasoline if necessary. The extra tanks are very flat and are usually positioned underneath the floor of the cars and not in the trunc.
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MJL 12:37PM (11/17/2007)
Thanks Autoblog (you know what for!)
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psarhjinian 1:47PM (11/17/2007)
There's also the substantially better emissions that LPG/CNG have over gasoline and (especially) diesel--an important point for those of us who don't misconstrue high low fuel use as "green".
Work on biopropane is pretty preliminary, but it's probably one of the more realistic choices for a green fuel.
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info 8:50AM (11/18/2007)
Lower emissions is exactly the reason why it is actively promoted by the German government, primarily through substantially lower tasxes and thus a much lower cost. Of course, such ideas are apparently totally alian to the US govenment on both sides of the aisle. They can't even come up with reasonable new CAFE standards. Environmental issues are a joke in this country.
Val 11:01AM (11/18/2007)
The CO2 emissions of LPG are actually worse than gasoline or diesel, due to the lower energy content of the fuel, you need to burn more of it to get the same enrgy. Diesel has around 41 MJ/L, while LPG has around 27. And there is still the higher efficiency of a diesle engine, combined with the higher torque. Now, if they could only do something about that NOx... Oh, wait, they are doing something about it. But perhaps LPG will be the next money saver, as diesel was, due to the lower taxes and the push from governments.
priusguy 1:49PM (11/17/2007)
That is fast. I didn't realize *normal* cars could even get that fast. Does natural gas help the performance? I'm not too familiar it.
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Andrew 4:24PM (11/17/2007)
Priusguy, BMW claims an M5 with its speed limiter removed can hit 330, so my guess is that performance is somewhat reduced in favour of economy and emissions, which is commendable. Not like it ain't fast enough anyways.
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JamesWB 9:09AM (11/18/2007)
So is it natural gas or LPG? The title and article don't match up.
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moa 6:03AM (11/19/2007)
natural gas (CNG) and LPG are two different fuels. please fix the title.
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