Bimmer magazine, May 2003

[drewwtms]

The May, 2003 issue of Bimmer magazine has a very nice article on the McLaren F1. It covers a lot of things that are in the DA book and adds a few tidbits of other info as well. The car used in the photography is F1 GTR 017R which was run by Team Bigazzi (with sponsorship from BMW North America) in 1996. The car was then given to BMW NA after the season and it is now in their collection of significant factory racecars. It makes regular appearances at BMW-sponsored events around the country and is driven on the track for demonstration quite regularly. I took the picture below at the national BMW Car Club gathering held at New Hampshire International Speedway in 1997. The driver is Bill Auberlen - accomplished BMW factory and Turner Motorsport team driver.

P.S. - on the cover of the Bimmer issue is the new 760Li. It's BMW's latest flagship powered by a V12 engine. The new V12 is a 6.0-liter, 48-valve, dohc V12 with several McLaren F1-related bits (such as the magnesium cam boxes).

[Peloton25]

Awesome - thanks for the info and the new photo Drew. I'll have to go track down a copy of that.

Here's some info I can add for those who are interested:

17R had a very short career, racing in just one of the 1996 BPR Global GT Races, prior to competing at LeMans that same year. I read in one place that McLaren Cars had actually pressured Team Bigazzi SRL into racing that one race at Silverstone in order to familiarize themselves with the car. I later learned that as a requirement to race at LeMans, cars must have already competed in one endurance race. Maybe that rule didn't exist back then and the story of pressure from McLaren Cars is true. It seems they could have used more practice though, as they went on to finish the 1996 24Hrs of LeMans in 11th place - the last of the McLaren's to cross the stripe. The other Team Bigazzi car fared better, finishing in 8th.

This is the same F1 GTR that has been seen and photographed several times at PTG Racing - BMW's US racing development arm. They prepared and raced the M5-V8-powered BMW M3's that cleaned up in ALMS for a few years before being sidelined due to rule changes. There was a web rumor that Tom Milner, the President of PTG had bought 17R, but I was always pretty sure he was just hanging onto it for BMW. This car has also been on display at BMW's Zentrum Museum, just outside the factory in Spartanburg, SC. There are quite a few other rare treats from BMW hiding in there so if anyone is ever in the neighborhood, they should make time to stop by.

Here's another great shot of the car - this time with Davey Jones driving it at the Watkins Glen - Historic Sportscar Racing Weekend held in June 2002.

>8^)
ER

[mini magic]

i'll scan the article in a bit and post it here and sc.net.

[mini magic]

damn, u cant post it for some reason, i guess i'll have to post it on sc.net and post a link 4 u guys...

[mini magic]

better late than never....

[hockeygod2787]

Thats sooooo sick man,
u gotta love the Mclaren
Nice pics too



.:C.H.R.I.S:.

`

[teflon]

Originally Posted by Peloton25

Awesome - thanks for the info and the new photo Drew. I'll have to go track down a copy of that.

Here's some info I can add for those who are interested:

...This is the same F1 GTR that has been seen and photographed several times at PTG Racing - BMW's US racing development arm. They prepared and raced the M5-V8-powered BMW M3's that cleaned up in ALMS for a few years before being sidelined due to rule changes...>8^)
ER

Hello,

I stumbled onto this forum yesterday and was compelled to join after I had read a few of the threads. This forum initially appears to be one of the most interesting on the web.

Having said that, I wanted to point out that your information regarding the PTG ALMS M3's is incorrect. There are 4 M3 GTR's. Two were in the care of PTG and the other two were run by Schnitzer. PTG was not allowed to do any engine work on their cars.

The V8's in the M3 GTR's have no basis or relationship with the E39 M5's engine. The M3 GTR's V8 was a 4ltr. flat crank V8 that was all-new w/some design-technology from BMW's F1 engines.

PTG did build at least one M5 V8 M3, but those cars never raced in ALMS. They were built for teams who campaigned them in Grand-Am.

Greg A

[tvrfreak]

Hi Greg,
could you please tell us what hp and tq the V8 motors put out, and how reliable they were?

Also, do you have any information on the McLaren that PTG looks after? Any personal experiences?

Many thanks.

[teflon]

Hi. Unfortunately, I do not have any personal experience with the F1 that PTG has. I have met Tom Milner on numerous occassions and it had never occurred to me to ask him about it. I will be @ Mid-OH in 2004 for the ALMS race and I will make a point to ask him about the car.

The only power figures I have at hand came from a R&T test of the GTR. 444hp @7500 rpm and 354 lb-ft @ 5500 rpm. I believe these figures to be quite conservative. I apologize, but I do not know about the reliability of these engines.

Hope this info helps!

Greg A

[tvrfreak]

Pretty impressive. The F1 LM has a bhp/l of 112.

444hp out of a 4l motor implies that BMW V8 made 111 bhp/l--better than all the McLaren variants except the LM, and it is very, very close to that.

And it has 10 lb/ft per liter more torque than the S70/2 motor. Wonder what the conrods were made of to withstand such brutal torque.

Equal or better to the F1 in terms of how much power the engine produced for its size.

Now if we had the weight of the cars, then we could figure out the power to weight ratios and see if it was comparable to the F1's as well.

Thanks for the info.

[teflon]

I found the info online. It is here: http://<a href="http://www.roadandtr..._bmwm3.pdf</a>

Greg A

[drewwtms]

Originally Posted by tvrfreak

Pretty impressive. Now if we had the weight of the cars, then we could figure out the power to weight ratios and see if it was comparable to the F1's as well.

M3 GTR (V8) = 2425lbs
F1 = 2579lbs

I am quoting from a Roundel magazine story from a few years ago.

F1 LM = 2341lbs (from the McLaren website)

EDIT: Oops! We're talking about the F1 GTR 96 aren't we?
F1 GTR 96 = 2231lbs (from the McLaren website)

-Drew

[mini magic]

i don't suppose you have a bigger version of the pic in your avatar do you drew?