The water injection technology is a lesser known system that might soon become popular when the new BMW M4 GT gets launched powered by the tech in 2019.
The price tag however might put off some as it could be around $135,000. When adopting new technologies, it is an obvious fact that some buyers have to spend more so that everyone else could get it. The electrified vehicles are a good example and the BMW M4 GT could be one such model. When it becomes a roaring success, all other manufacturers will soon join the club and adopt water injection technology for their own powertrains.
While the water injection is similar to the fuel combustion powertrain, there are some additional changes that makes it stand apart from the regular engines. A high pressure injection system will mix water vapor with the engine before fuel combustion takes place. The advantage of using one is that it reduces overall engine temperature and keeps it at optimal level at all times. The lower heat leads to better fuel efficiency, engine durability and increased performance.
In test runs, the engineers have confirmed that the BMW M4 GT witnessed about 13 percent rise in efficiency while the overall power output of the engine increased by 5 percent. Acquiring such numbers from a base engine is very difficult as a number of tweaks have to be made and components to be modified. BMW engineers have achieved the same by adding water vapor to the combustion system before fuel is injected.
However, you might be surprised to know that it is not only BMW that has made it possible but they were powered by Bosch on the backend. The water injection technology was developed and pioneered by Bosch technologies. Talking about the initiative, Martin Frohnmaier, head of the division said that they have been working with multiple automotive companies to deliver state-of-the-art technologies. They are not supposed to talk about them at the moment.
Frohnmaier did confirm that the BMW M4 GT will not be the only car to use water injection but a lot of other models from different manufacturers may also have it by 2019. Some technical issues exist that are to be sorted out before the tech is used by cars in the mass market. Water tends to freeze in winter which could probably be solved using electrical heating components. The crew is working to find a feasible solution before they roll out the tech with the BMW car.