> Max Heim <mvheim@studiolimage.com>
>
> Subject: Re: MG SUV
>
> I read the same thing at the time. I also feel that an MG SUV would be a
> ludicrous travesty... but then, so are the Porsche SUV, the BMW SUV, ad
> nauseam...
Easy, Max. I resemble that remark; my daily driver/kid hauler is a BMW X5.
Ludicrous travesty?? You decide...
---
NURBURG, Germany (June 21, 2001) -- The world recently saw
another motorsports record fall to BMW as American Le Mans Series
driver Hans Stuck drove a V12-powered BMW X5 around the 20-kilometer
(12.5-mile) northern loop of the legendary Nurburgring circuit in a time
of 7:49.92 minutes.
The "X5 Le Mans" is an engineering exercise that originated among
BMW engineers to explore and demonstrate the absolute limits of this
type of vehicle beyond just theory. The X5 Le Mans is powered by
the same six-liter V12 engine that propelled the V12 LMR to its win
at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1999.
Apart from lowering the chassis by about an inch front and rear,
shortening and stiffening the springs and dampers and fitting some truly
gargantuan tires (275/40ZR20 fronts, 315/35ZR20 rears), the Le Mans
prototype chassis is standard X5.
To break the eight-minute barrier is an accomplishment many thought
was impossible with a sport activity vehicle - even for a driver the
caliber of Stuck.
"We tried three times last year," said Stuck, "but had twice weather
problems and one time a mechanical problem. The target was to go
below eight minutes on the northern loop of the famous old Nurburgring
and this time we were lucky that the weather was good. Normally it
is bad at the Nurburgring and good in the rest of Germany, but this
time it was good up there and bad in the rest of the country.
"After going out in the morning and checking our settings my first flying
lap in the afternoon was a 7:49.92. People were totally crazy that I could
go so fast as they did not think I could break the eight-minute barrier.
"The X5 reached 311 kilometers per hour (194 mph) on the straightaway.
It was a ride on a cannonball!"
------
Now, if only the top went down...
http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/roadtests/firstdrive/45099/page001.html
--Scott
01 X5 (not a LeMans, but wish it was)
73 MGB
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