BMW M4 GTS Water Injection System Overview
BMW M4 GTS Water Injection System Overview
Posted on August 31, 2016
The German automaker maker came up with a laundry list of reasons to justify the M4 GTS' hefty price tag of more than $160,000. One of those reasons included Bosch's water-injection technology. Water-injection is an old trick used in hot rodding to keep an engine from blowing up at full throttle.
We are finally blessed with the opportunity to experience the water-technology championed in the GTS without having to unload $160,000. Bosch, the German multinational engineering and electronics company is having discussions with OEMs to scale their latest water-injection system in mass produced cars by 2019.
The technology was used in the limited edition M4 GTS to crank out an extra 49 horsepower from higher boost pressure. However, Bosch claims that it was not horsepower that was taken into account when the team was helping BMW develop the technology.
The company suggests that water-injection can increase power by five per cent, and improve fuel economy by as much as 13 per cent. Let's not forget that it also lowered emissions by 4 per cent. The water-injection system works best with engines that can deliver 107 horsepower per litre.
How Water-Injection Works
It's actually a based on a simple principle; the engine cannot be allowed to overheat. Before the fuel is ignited, a fine mist of distilled water is injected into the vehicle's manifold to reduce engine temperatures. Cars will have a separate water tank which needs to be topped up at around 1,800 km. However, that seems to a minor problem to be worked out before mass-market adoption is possible. One major consideration engineers are working to address is how to prevent water from freezing in winter climates.
One solution under evaluation involves electric heating components. BMW's initial involvement means the German automaker's fleets would mostly likely be the first in line to proliferate this technology.
We will be keeping our ears to the ground for further updates regarding the Bosch-BMW collaboration.
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