BMW 2002 turbo - the best that can be made from exhaust gas
Summary
In 1973, a turbocharger was still a rather exotic tool for increasing performance, which was primarily used in racing but hardly ever on the road. Forced ventilation elicited 170 hp from the BWM inline four-cylinder engine of the 2002 and enabled performance that differed only slightly from that of a Porsche 911. BMW wanted to build 5000 turbo saloons, but in times of the oil crisis and economic downturn, the car was only a limited success, so the 2002 turbo was only built for a short time and remained rare. This driving report portrays a model from 1974, shows the car in historical pictures, makes it sound like a sound sample and tells the story of this rare car.
This article contains the following chapters
- Dynamic sports sedans
- Race-proven
- Civilization
- The thing with the lettering
- Body building
- Faster than a Porsche 911
- Only built for a short time
- Light on its feet
- Further information
Estimated reading time: 7min
Preview (beginning of the article)
In 1973, a turbocharger was still a rather exotic means of increasing performance, used primarily in racing but hardly ever on the road. But that was not the only reason why the BMW 2002 turbo was given such a large and conspicuous name. The BMW 2002 was one of the sporty saloons; in 1971 it was made fit for the competition with a Kugelfischer fuel injection system with 130 hp. Unfortunately, it was faster, at least as far as top speed was concerned. 200 km/h became the measure of all things and the Alpina version with 155 hp easily ran at 210 km/h. BMW could not be left behind. BMW had plenty of experience with performance-enhanced two-liter engines. After all, the 2002 had been skillfully turbocharged and 300 hp had been extracted from the well-behaved four-cylinder. Thus equipped and with thick fender extensions, the Bavarians won the European Touring Car Championship.
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