Interesting fact from 7:25 of the video.
Mechanics pack a sports turbocharged inline-6 with 800 horsepower into the engine bay of an E9 CSL designed
by Frank Stella from the BMW Art Cars series that raced in the LeMans endurance race.
BMW Story 1976
- Thread starter Lucas
- Start date
Interesting fact from 7:25 of the video.
Mechanics pack a sports turbocharged inline-6 with 800 horsepower into the engine bay of an E9 CSL designed
by Frank Stella from the BMW Art Cars series that raced in the LeMans endurance race.
rblongboarder
Well-Known Member
If you pause very carefully at 7:36.. it's a twin scroll design. One turbo per three cylinders... two completely separate headers.
I was talking with a Porsche 962 mechanic at Laguna Seca historic this year... and I noticed their flat-six engine also employed twin scrolls. They had twin oil coolers, twin radiators and a single transaxle cooler in the back (the transaxle had a magnesium housing).
I've ridden in a turbo'd 2002, owned a '88 M5 (4.0L stroker engine) and I currently have Subaru STI's. I am curious what a turbo'd straight 6 would feel like compared to the M5. In this video, the turbo's don't seem to have pipes feeding the scroll's compressed output to the other side of the engine.. I wonder which way they routed the scroll output, where they placed the intercooler and how long the pipes were. A lot of Subaru WRX & STI guys remove the top-mounted intercooler and move it in front of the radiator.. and while they get cooler, denser air, they get turbo lag due to the increased length of the pipes...
The Subaru STI's in the modern Time Attack races are now producing nearly 1000hp from a 2.5L flat-four motor. Renner Racing in Los Angeles, run by Petr Tuchenishki (his parents were rally drivers) is one of the shops building these cars using closed blocks from IAG.
globaltimeattack.com
www.rennerracingdevelopment.com
I was talking with a Porsche 962 mechanic at Laguna Seca historic this year... and I noticed their flat-six engine also employed twin scrolls. They had twin oil coolers, twin radiators and a single transaxle cooler in the back (the transaxle had a magnesium housing).
I've ridden in a turbo'd 2002, owned a '88 M5 (4.0L stroker engine) and I currently have Subaru STI's. I am curious what a turbo'd straight 6 would feel like compared to the M5. In this video, the turbo's don't seem to have pipes feeding the scroll's compressed output to the other side of the engine.. I wonder which way they routed the scroll output, where they placed the intercooler and how long the pipes were. A lot of Subaru WRX & STI guys remove the top-mounted intercooler and move it in front of the radiator.. and while they get cooler, denser air, they get turbo lag due to the increased length of the pipes...
The Subaru STI's in the modern Time Attack races are now producing nearly 1000hp from a 2.5L flat-four motor. Renner Racing in Los Angeles, run by Petr Tuchenishki (his parents were rally drivers) is one of the shops building these cars using closed blocks from IAG.
Global Time Attack – Time Attack Racing
globaltimeattack.com
Engine Builds | Renner Racing Develo
www.rennerracingdevelopment.com
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In my humble opinion, the best looking racing CSL with an equally amazing engine at the time...
Frank Stella was a great guy.
That cigar smoke ring at the beginning of the movie says a lot about him...
www.bmwartcarcollection.com
Frank Stella was a great guy.
That cigar smoke ring at the beginning of the movie says a lot about him...
02 | Frank Stella 1976
Fran Stella not only converts his ideas into various media with dramatic diversity – he is also a passionate motor racing fan. For this reason he was all the more determined to succeed as he set about the task of individually decorating a BMW coupe back in 1976.
www.bmwartcarcollection.com
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rblongboarder
Well-Known Member
Fascinating. Thank you for posting the additional links to the Stella CSL art car.
This photo of the engine bay is amazing:
You can see the twin scrolls and independent headers on the left. On the right, the CSL individual downdrafts have been replaced by a new air plenum, with what appears to be individual fuel injectors per cylinder. Compressed air comes in from the top right. The air plenum is connected to the intake manifold via 6 independent short rubber hoses w/ clamps. In the lower left, I see what appears to be the air intakes to the scrolls.
It appears the straight six block is mounted vertically in this engine bay (similar to a 240Z) - perhaps for turbo exhaust clearance issues? In comparison, on the E3 and E9, the Faulkenhausen's straight six motors were tipped towards to the passenger side of the engine bay to keep the hood profile low.
Wow. What a morning! Awesome comparison of '70s turbo experiments against modern designs... I learn something new every time I read posts on this site... hopefully others will jump into this conversation.
This photo of the engine bay is amazing:
You can see the twin scrolls and independent headers on the left. On the right, the CSL individual downdrafts have been replaced by a new air plenum, with what appears to be individual fuel injectors per cylinder. Compressed air comes in from the top right. The air plenum is connected to the intake manifold via 6 independent short rubber hoses w/ clamps. In the lower left, I see what appears to be the air intakes to the scrolls.
It appears the straight six block is mounted vertically in this engine bay (similar to a 240Z) - perhaps for turbo exhaust clearance issues? In comparison, on the E3 and E9, the Faulkenhausen's straight six motors were tipped towards to the passenger side of the engine bay to keep the hood profile low.
Wow. What a morning! Awesome comparison of '70s turbo experiments against modern designs... I learn something new every time I read posts on this site... hopefully others will jump into this conversation.
Always fun to see my Hermetite CSL having many guest appearances in this.
I don't know how many times I have watched this, but enjoyable every single time.
I don't know how many times I have watched this, but enjoyable every single time.
rblongboarder
Well-Known Member
BMW Pete,
In 1976, I was just a little beach kid growing up in Destin, FL. I had no idea that BMW Motorsport had taken up residence in Hueytown, Alabama, which is close to Birmingham, and just a few hours' drive from Destin.
After watching this video, and the other video Lucas posted, I had a question an an idea:
Question: Are there two CSL's with #25? I saw two what seemed like two #25 cars in the videos. One had the Hermetite logo on the windshield; another did not. Are they the same car or different cars?
50th anniversary Idea: Seems to me it'd be very interesting to have a national E9 get-together in Hueytown, AL.. perhaps in 2025 for the 50th anniversary of BMW racing in the USA? Get cars from across the country to make the trek... perhaps some of the original BMW racing staff could make an appearance? In my mind I can imagine this wide, panoramic shot, with original staff and cars in the center, and E9 owners & cars on the sides...
JP / rblongboarder
In 1976, I was just a little beach kid growing up in Destin, FL. I had no idea that BMW Motorsport had taken up residence in Hueytown, Alabama, which is close to Birmingham, and just a few hours' drive from Destin.
After watching this video, and the other video Lucas posted, I had a question an an idea:
Question: Are there two CSL's with #25? I saw two what seemed like two #25 cars in the videos. One had the Hermetite logo on the windshield; another did not. Are they the same car or different cars?
50th anniversary Idea: Seems to me it'd be very interesting to have a national E9 get-together in Hueytown, AL.. perhaps in 2025 for the 50th anniversary of BMW racing in the USA? Get cars from across the country to make the trek... perhaps some of the original BMW racing staff could make an appearance? In my mind I can imagine this wide, panoramic shot, with original staff and cars in the center, and E9 owners & cars on the sides...
JP / rblongboarder
Hi JP
The Hermetite car was sponsored by Hermetite for the 1976 season, and this is why you will see it with just Hermetite across the windscreen at Daytona 76, but still Motorsport colors. It then went back to Munich in March 76 and became the Hermetite car as you see above.
For 1975, this was the car that won Sebring as BMW Motorsport's number 25 car, their first win in the USA. In fact, BMW NA had only been in existence for a couple of weeks. But later after this car was damaged in 1975, other cars ran with the 25 number on them in different races.
Numbers on cars constantly change from race to race, there are many many other things important to historians on telling which car was which in a race.
As an example, the car BMW NA owns today that most of you have seen at events around the country looking like the #25 Sebring winner, to be clear, its not. I can only find proof that car ran once with the number 25 on it at Mosport where it DNF'd.
I wish you luck on your 50th idea, but as somebody who has put events together, you will need a massive amount of luck and money, as all the previous members of that 1975 team besides Brain Redman are either abroad and only come to events with somebody else paying all the expenses, or are no longer with us and as a warning they dont travel coach
BMW NA are already making their own plans around the 50th, so I will be waiting to see what they do.