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Originally Posted by Driver72
IDK if I'd speculate the current M3 will be the "last" to have a V8 yet. I personally think the EPA regs of requiring something like 40 mpg on average in each manufacturers fleet by 2016 (or is it 2020) is a bit unrealistic.
Having a bunch of hybrids, electric cars and small turbocharged I4's in cars that keep getting heavier due to constant increase in size and safety requirements too is getting WAY too PC and big government.
Are we all expected to drive around in steel cages with battery power, or super expensive all aluminum or titanium cages in the next 10-15 years?
I'd hope the goal would be to increase mpg and advance technology but to a point of sanity and realistic expectations.
I think people in the 70's with the gas crisis and the regulations that all but dissolved large V8's in the late 70's and into the 80's, thought the same thing.
But look what happened in the mid 90's to 2000's. We went back to bigger engines, bigger power all over again.
After a decade or so of driving hybrids, electric cars and 200 hp 3300+ lbs cars, people will demand and want power again.
Currently 300 hp in a family sedan/car is "normal" but that may drop to 200 again by 2015-2020
My guess though by 2025, 350-400 hp will be "normal" again with V8's once again making a comeback.
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No one can predict the future, and you do have a point. However, don't forget today's V8s are more powerful than they were and use less fuel. It is a demand thing, and really, while improvement of safety and comfort has lead to increase in weight of today's cars which is compensate by the efficiencies of today's engine, I cannot see when the power of a road car is going to be much relevance in the future as technology improves.
I think electric cars is going to be the next phase and we will see the fading (it will take some years) of internal combustion engine, and by 2025, 350-400hp electric engine might not necessarily be normal, but the same power/weight ratio would be achieved with cars that would be using a much more efficient engine/motor.
That's why I think the turbo I4 and turbo I6 would be a good direction. At the end of the day, a M car is about performance on a race track, and I really don't care how BMW gets it there - and it would be better if it is able to deliver in a package which reduce consumption.