BMW M5 powered by 730-hp V10 engine reaches 340 km/h

On January 31st at 13:20 pm the 730hp BMW M5 HURRICANE reached a top speed of 340km/h at a German high speed racetrack.

The BMW M5 Hurricane is therefore one of the world fastest BMWs, if not the fastest BMW 5 series currently available.
Being one of the worldï?½s fastest and most powerful street-legal BMW was not easy to achieve. The 340-km/h BMW M5 HURRICANE is based on the latest BMW M5. At the heart of the high-performance sedan is a five-liter V10 engine with a supercharging system that delivers 730 hp / 537.3 kW.

To achieve the desired increase in power output of 223 hp / 164 kW for the fast-revving engine that normally produces 507 hp / 373 kW, a high-tech supercharging system was developed. The system uses one belt-driven ASA T1-12 compressor for each cylinder bank. Contrary to conventional mechanical chargers that waste a large portion of the additional power on being driven themselves, the ASA compressor has an efficiency rate of up to 80 percent. The ASA charger is also small, which allowed GPOWER to install two of them in the tight confines of the M5 engine bay. With a maximum air-stream volume of up to 1,200 kg per hour per cylinder bank the compressors are designed for an even higher power output. The boost pressure is limited to 0.5 bars.

The pre-compressed charge air is cooled down in a highly efficient dual-flow water-to-air intercooler system that is mounted above the engine. This measure optimizes power yield and, in combination with a larger water-cooled oil cooler with pressure reservoir, also ensures the engineï?½s thermal health. Specially developed mapping for engine electronics and SMG gearbox controls coordinate the perfect interaction of all new components.

The inner workings of the four-valve ten-cylinder engine are optimized for even higher engine speeds with lightweight, precision-matched high-performance forged pistons from technology partner MAHLE. The supercharged V10 engine produces its maximum power output of 730 hp / 537 kW between 7,500 and 8,200 rpm. The high efficiency rate of the two superchargers, each spinning at up to 100,000 rpm and more, results in a torque diagram that rises early and at 3,800 rpm already surpasses the production engineï?½s peak torque of 520 Nm, delivered at 6,000 rpm. The new peak of 700 Nm is reached at 7,200 rpm.

Acceleration performance benefits accordingly. With a claimed sprint time from rest to 100 km/h of 4.2 seconds the two-ton sedan bests its production counterpart by half a second. With approx. ten seconds to 200 km/h the advantage grows to 5.0 seconds. The 300-km/h barrier is shattered in less than 29.5 seconds. Contrary to the production car the BMW M5 HURRICANE is not limited electronically to a top speed of 250 km/h. Aided by a specially cooled GPOWER anti-slip differential the engine propels the car to a top speed of 340 km/h (electronically limited).

The enormous performance places extreme demands on aerodynamics, tires, suspension and brakes.

Meanwhile the maximum speed (340km/h) journeys by the OEM tires became a limited one. In the test journey special high-speed tires of the company Continental allow a speed of more than 350 km/h. And here is not still finished long. After chassis votes conclude and aerodynamics adaptations the speed should rise again.

As soon as we test-drive this car, we will publish an extensive and detailed feature about the inner qualities and road-performance of this unique asphalt-burner.