Ask anyone in the US about diesel engines and they’ll tell you it’s only for trucks, lorries and ferries. However, the compression ignition mill is widely popular in Europe and there are tuning companies working on performance enhancement kits for diesel engines. Some take the business to extreme levels and build drag monsters like the BMW 1 Series you see in the gallery below. It is now officially the fastest diesel-powered BMW in history.
We say it’s official because the information about this new record holder has come to us directly from BMW, more precisely from the Romanian division of the brand. A press release informs us that the car belongs to Dragos Stacescu, who broke some records during the last round of the Romanian drag racing championship.
6 Pictures
For starters, the red sedan completed the quarter mile in just 8.31 seconds with an exit speed of 168 miles per hour (270 kilometers per hour). Even more impressive, the diesel-powered 1 Series recorded an acceleration of 0-62 miles per hour (0-100 kilometers per hour) in – see! – 1.87 seconds and 0-124 mph (0-200 km/h) in an additional 2.84 seconds. Another 2.44 seconds later, the car was traveling at 155 mph (250 km/h).
In the ad, BMW proudly claims that the car uses many original BMW components and is actually based on a humble 118d from the E81 generation. The donor car’s hardware was replaced with an all-wheel-drive from an E90-generation 330d xDrive, an inline-six diesel engine from an E90 335d and an eight-speed automatic from a BMW X6. The vehicle’s creator estimates that around 75% of the transmission and engine components are Original BMW Parts.
Following several significant modifications, the 3.0-liter diesel now generates 1,020 horsepower (761 kilowatts) and 1,217 pound-feet (1,650 Newton-meters). This represents a 300% increase in horsepower and a 200% increase in torque over the stock engine, still using many factory components.
“Dragoş achieved a remarkable performance that will go down in history. We are proud that a Romanian’s project set an absolute world record for BMW. Such moments are very rare and we are honored by them”, Alex Şeremet, Corporate Communication Manager at BMW Romania, said.
Ask anyone in the US about diesel engines and they’ll tell you it’s only for trucks, lorries and ferries. However, the compression ignition mill is widely popular in Europe and there are tuning companies working on performance enhancement kits for diesel engines. Some take the business to extreme levels and build drag monsters like the BMW 1 Series you see in the gallery below. It is now officially the fastest diesel-powered BMW in history.
We say it’s official because the information about this new record holder has come to us directly from BMW, more precisely from the Romanian division of the brand. A press release informs us that the car belongs to Dragos Stacescu, who broke some records during the last round of the Romanian drag racing championship.
6 Pictures
For starters, the red sedan completed the quarter mile in just 8.31 seconds with an exit speed of 168 miles per hour (270 kilometers per hour). Even more impressive, the diesel-powered 1 Series recorded an acceleration of 0-62 miles per hour (0-100 kilometers per hour) in – see! – 1.87 seconds and 0-124 mph (0-200 km/h) in an additional 2.84 seconds. Another 2.44 seconds later, the car was traveling at 155 mph (250 km/h).
In the ad, BMW proudly claims that the car uses many original BMW components and is actually based on a humble 118d from the E81 generation. The donor car’s hardware was replaced with an all-wheel-drive from an E90-generation 330d xDrive, an inline-six diesel engine from an E90 335d and an eight-speed automatic from a BMW X6. The vehicle’s creator estimates that around 75% of the transmission and engine components are Original BMW Parts.
Following several significant modifications, the 3.0-liter diesel now generates 1,020 horsepower (761 kilowatts) and 1,217 pound-feet (1,650 Newton-meters). This represents a 300% increase in horsepower and a 200% increase in torque over the stock engine, still using many factory components.
“Dragoş achieved a remarkable performance that will go down in history. We are proud that a Romanian’s project set an absolute world record for BMW. Such moments are very rare and we are honored by them”, Alex Şeremet, Corporate Communication Manager at BMW Romania, said.