Trackside: BMW's stunning 2009 M3 race car

The beating heart of this BMW M3 racing car is its 485bhp V8 engine

Lower, wider and faster than the road-going version, it will lead BMW’s assault on the American Le Mans sports car racing series next year.

Trackside’s Keith Collantine found out more about the ultra-hot M3.

See below for more pictures of the BMW M3 racing car

The beating heart of this BMW M3 racing car is its 485bhp V8 engine. It uses the same blocks as the M3 road car, which are assembled in the same factory as BMW’s ultra-powerful V8 F1 engines.

Transmitting all that power to the wheels is a six speed sequential gearbox with a carbon fibre clutch.

The M3 body has been lowered, lightened and widened to increase the car’s grip. Substituting ordinary materials for carbon-reinforced plastics helps shave off vital kilograms of weight.

More F1 technology can be found in the car’s aerodynamically-enhanced body.

Wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamics analyses helped refine its shape and create the intricate detail around the front splitter and behind the rear wheels.

Between now and the start of the 2009 racing season the M3 racer will be tested by BMW’s top world touring car drivers including Britain’s three-times world champion Andy Priaulx.

But the car has a tough reputation to look up to: its predecessor, the M3 GTR, won the American championship three times. And Priaulx himself was one of the crew who took it to victory in the gruelling 24 Hours of the Nürburgring.

Is the BMW M3 king of the super saloons? What about the Audi RS4, Mercedes C63 AMG and Lexus IS-F? Have your say on the Auto Trader Blog.

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