Yesterday we posted a BMW promo clip that may have given us a sneak peak at their upcoming front-wheel drive 0 Series platform. Well, also included was this seemingly innocent dash graphic, clearly labelled with an M8 model designation. So what the hell is an M8?
The battery recharge graphic and EfficientDynamics text give an indication that it could be a production version of last year’s Vision EfficientDynamics concept car. Further speculation has appeared this morning suggesting possible engine specs too.
Whereas the concept model had a diesel hybrid the M8 could be powered by a more conventional petrol-electric combination. The donor engine is said to come from the E60 M5. So, that’s 507 horsepower to start with thanks very much. Added to that would be a pair of electric motors, one at each axle; 80hp to the front and 60hp to the rear. Apparently, the front motor can boost power to 11hp for small bursts.
In all-electric mode the M8 would have a modest range of 50km. On the plus side recharging back to full power takes a relatively short two and a half hours.
Performance for the M8 is said to be blistering, with a sub four second 0-100km/h time anticipated. Fuel consumption should be under 4l/100km, as well.
All we need to see now are some new renderings and spy shots. Supposedly renderings from BMW are imminent and a market release for the M8 could take place in 2013.
[Source: World Car Fans]