Meet BMW’s carbon-fibre, track-only monster
BMW shocked everyone at last year’s EICMA in Milan when it unveiled the carbon-framed BMW HP4 Race. Now it has revealed the production version – and it’s everything we’d hoped for.
Priced at £68,000 (about $116,000) and with only 750 examples on offer, 10 of which are heading to Australia, it’s a showy demonstration of BMW’s technical prowess, with the carbon-fibre chassis as its centrepiece. But the firm’s commitment to carbon construction is such that this could well be a precursor to more mainstream road-going models.
BMW is pioneering three new carbon construction techniques in the HP4 Race.
The first, Carbonview, is for mainly cosmetic parts such as bodywork, and is a conventional hand lay-up method.
The second, Carboncore, creates much stronger parts, with the carbon fabrics put in a mould and the resin injected in.
Finally, Carbondrive is for parts such as the frame and wheels, and uses non-woven fabrics with continuous fibres. These pieces balance strength and rigidity, aiming to address the criticism of earlier carbon frames being too rigid and giving too little feedback.
As well as frame, wheels and bodywork, the HP4 Race has a carbon subframe and seat unit, which can be adjusted for height. The pegs can also be adjusted, as can the offset, rake and swingarm pivot point.
The suspension is the best money can buy: an Öhlins FGR 300 fork and TTX 36 GP rear shock, and the brakes are equally exotic Brembo GP4-PR calipers.
Fortunately, the electronics package includes a datalogger, so the race-style dash can show everything from peak brake pressures to spring travel, throttle position, individual wheel speeds and bank angle. If you can afford the HP4, you can also probably afford a pit crew to make sense of it all.
It’s also got Shift Assistant Pro, adjustable-level traction control, wheelie control, launch control and a pitlane speed-limiter. Race-style ’bar controls allow tweaks to most settings on the fly.
The race-shift pattern gearbox has new ratios and comes with a selection of different front and rear sprockets to alter the gearing.
With only 750 examples being made, and a price that, while astronomical, isn’t as insane as some similarly exotic track bikes, you can expect them to sell out fast.
RACE by numbers
146
That’s the HP4 Race’s dry weight in kg. Throw in all the fluids needed to make it run, including a full 17.5L tank of fuel, and it rises to 171.4kg. That’s rather less than a WSBK machine, which tips the scales at 168kg without fuel.
158
The power in kW, or 215hp in the old money. That peak comes at 13,900rpm, in an engine that still has another 600rpm in hand at that point. New milled rods, high-lift camshafts and a lightened crankshaft are the key changes.
120
Torque in Nm, peaking at 10,000rpm. That’s 7Nm more than the stock S1000RR, with a peak that’s usefully 500rpm lower in the
rev range.
750
That’s how many HP4 Race units BMW is planning to make, with each one being hand-built.
There will be another important number to consider – the price. In the UK it will cost £68,000 (equivalent to about A$116,000) and deliveries are scheduled to start in September this year.
By Ben Purvis