Mercedes-AMG might offer a high-performance four-cylinder engine in the A45, CLA45 and GLA45, but the head of BMW M says he has no plans to go down the same path.
Unless, that is, he can find a way to include electrification without adding considerable weight.
Frank Van Meel, who heads up the Bavarian automaker’s performance division, told CarAdvice that – for the foreseeable future, anyway – six-cylinder engines (along with the odd V8) were still the way to go for BMW M.
“We are really happy with our six-cylinder because for BMW and BMW M that is our heritage engine. We started with the six-cylinder in the M1 so it has a long history. BMW is a six-cylinder inline company and, for us, it’s an iconic engine,” Van Meel told the Australian publication.
“If you look at it with a four-cylinder, I don’t see characteristics that I would like on an M car, on a small displacement turbocharged four-cylinder engine.
“I wouldn’t do a four-cylinder standalone turbocharged with high performance, because you always have the characteristic that if you want high performance you lose the low-end torque and you lose the overall driveability you want to have from the car,” he explained.
While adding an electric motor could potentially solve such issues, Van Meel raised the point that a hybrid powertrain would add serious weight.
“Electrification would help because low-end torque is done with electric motors. On the other hand, you are putting a lot of weight into the car, so that answer is not so easy. To say ‘just do it’, you lose the motorsport topic of power-to-weight ratio which is very important with overall weight.
“So, at the time-being, it’s a dilemma – but we are working on that with our project ‘i’ colleagues to have a look at the next generation of battery cells, regarding weight, power, density and range to find the right tipping point to say ‘now it makes sense to go in that right direction’. But today is not the right time.”
