BMW will once again provide the safety car for MotoGP, and like last season, the 2015 MotoGP Safety Car will be the RM750k BMW M4 Coupe. But unlike last year’s white M4 safety car, the black 2015 edition doesn’t just feature every item in the BMW M Performance Parts catalogue, we get a preview of some new tech as well.
The M Division has equipped the M4’s 431 hp inline-six with a water injection system. Water injection makes it possible to raise the upper performance limits, which have otherwise been restricted thermally.
Power and torque aside, the water injection system also improves efficiency with benefits in full-load consumption and exhaust emissions. Benefits at both ends of the scale, can’t argue with it!
The system makes use of the water’s physical effect during the vaporisation process to extract the energy required from the environmental medium. Water is injected into the intake module’s collector as a fine spray, significantly cooling the exhaust air during vaporisation. This lowers the discharge temperature in the combustion chamber and thus reduces the tendency for knocking, allowing the turbo engine to have higher charging pressure and an earlier ignition point.
Lower process temperatures also reduce the formation of hazardous substances, in particular nitrogen oxide (NOX). Water injection consequently “dramatically improves the effectiveness of the engine,” BMW says. Also, improved performance can be achieved without increasing the heat applied to performance-related components, meaning that reliability is not affected.
In this M4, BMW has opted for a layout with three injection valves in the plenum chamber, each supplying two cylinders. Located in the boot is a water tank with a gross volume of about five litres, which houses the water pump, sensors and valves, all controlled by the engine electronics.
In practice, the pump feeds the water to the injectors at a pressure of ten bar, whereby the appropriate volume is supplied depending on load, engine speed and temperature.
On track, the water tank has to be replenished whenever the car refuels. During more normal operation, the intervals between water refills are considerably longer, roughly once every five refuelling stops. To ensure the system is as suitable as possible for daily use, it does not require any additional maintenance, BMW says.
Not just a fun project for the engineers, water injection will be going into a production M car soon. Munich says that following extensive testing via the MotoGP series, the system “will also be employed in a BMW M production model in the near future.”
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
“This lowers the discharge temperature in the combustion changer and thus reduces the tendency for knocking”.
Combustion changer? What is that?
Chamber, most likely typo. Danny on CNY mood.
Must be a typo.
Think it was supposed to be “combustion charge”
Racers have been using water injection on performance cars for very long. Saab was one of the first to use them on production road cars, the 99.
If you have deep pockets, you can feed it with 40 grain Vodka. :)
This lowers the discharge temperature in the combustion changer and thus reduces the tendency for knocking.
Combustion changer? What is that?
The combustion chamber is the space above the piston inside the cylinder where the air – fuel mixture is burnt
Hardly new technology. BMW used water injection it on their mid-80s F1 turbo engines to extract 1,450 bhp from a 1.5 litre turbo engine. Interesting that it took 30 years before it’s been considered for production.
something like water methanol injection..which lower the EGT..gain more HP.
Water bro.. h2o. nothing more, nothing less.
Nothing new…….been around for sometime. Now, if there can make it user friendly….then its a different matter. Huge benefit in our kinda of weather.
can mix 50/50 water methanol and definitely see the gain as well as ron rating.
I have been using it on my turbo charge machine the last 8 years. Helps a lot during high boost on hot afternoon.
The only problem with this technology is that you need to use distilled water
solve by using A/C condensation water..use more than 4 years. cleans spark plug,turbocharger,combustion chamber,extra lub interval with add power..
How if you forget to to refill the water tank?
And a titanium valve perhaps.