BMW unleashes new M4 racer on DTM
 

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/coupes/" rel="tag">Coupe</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/" rel="tag">BMW</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/racing/" rel="tag">Racing</a></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/bmw-m4-dtm/"><img alt="BMW M4 DTM" data-credit="BMW" data-mep="151952" src="http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/adam/34fa12a007a7b7aebe924e285 786f80/m4-dtm.jpg" /></a><br />
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We may not get to enjoy the fruits of it all, but we're in the midst of a golden age in touring car racing around the world. In Northern Europe, rival local series have amalgamated into the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/stcc/">Scandinavian Touring Car Championship</a>. In the UK, the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/btcc/">British Touring Car Championship</a> is enjoying the largest and most diverse grid in its long history. In Australia, the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/v8+supercars/">V8 Supercars</a> series has grown from a <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/holden/">Holden</a> vs. <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/ford/">Ford</a> battle to include challengers from <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/mercedes-benz/">Mercedes</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/nissan/">Nissan</a> and <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/volvo/">Volvo</a>. And in Germany, the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/dtm/">DTM</a> championship has managed to lure <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/">BMW</a> back onto the grid to open up the battle between Mercedes and <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/audi/">Audi</a>. All good things, in short.<br />
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Since returning to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2012, BMW has won the drivers' title once and the constructors' title twice, proving the Bavarian manufacturer to be not only a suitable challenger to the two-horse race between its star- and ring-emblazoned rivals, but the dominant force in German tin-top racing. Now BMW is set to enter its third season since returning to the DTM, and this is the car with which it intends to do so.<br />
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Replacing the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/bmw+m3+dtm/">M3 DTM</a> that has impressively won half of the DTM races it has contested over the past two years, BMW's latest racing car is made in the mold of the new <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/m4">M4</a> coupe. Only it's even meaner. While the production version has switched to a turbo six, the DTM version still uses a V8: a 4.0-liter unit with four-valve cylinder heads, mandatory air restrictors and a Bosch ECU to channel 480 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque to the rear set of Hankook racing slicks through a six-speed sequential gearbox. The lightweight chassis is rounded out with competition-level aerodynamics and all the mandatory safety equipment.<br />
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Look for the new M4 DTM to debut at the first test session of the season in Budapest at the end of the month before a team of eight drivers field it in the season opener at Hockenheim on May 4, led by BMW's returning champions Bruno Spengler and Martin Tomczyk. Former F1 driver Timo Glock will also be among them, facing off against fellow grand prix defectors Paul di Resta and (just announced) Vitaly Petrov who will be driving for Mercedes this season.<p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/03/03/bmw-m4-dtm-official/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>BMW unleashes new M4 racer on DTM</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/03/03/bmw-m4-dtm-official/">BMW unleashes new M4 racer on DTM</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:30:00 EST. Please see our <a href="/rss-term-of-use/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/03/03/bmw-m4-dtm-official/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/20841090/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/03/03/bmw-m4-dtm-official/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

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