Going green will no longer mean the slitting of wrists with the mention of the word performance. This highly-strung high-performance vehicle by AC Schnitzer is an LPG-powered design study based off the new BMW 3-Series Coupe, which just happens to have set a new world speed record for liquid gas fuel cars. The record-breaking concept, dubbed the GP3.10 GAS POWERED, clocked up a speed measurement of 318.1 km/h (197 mph) on a run on Southern Italy's 13 km long high speed Nardo track.
The design study transplants a modified M5 engine into the new BMW 3-Series coupe, turning the BMW M5's 552 hp or 406 kW ten-cylinder unit into that which powers the fastest vehicle on the planet to utilise liquid gas fuel. It joins AC Schnitzer's earlier record breaker, the M6-based TENSION, which claimed the undisputed title of fastest road-going BMW in the world. Acceleration to 100 km/h (62 mph) is a staggering 4.6 seconds, while to 200 km/h (124 mph), that figure climbs to just 13.9 seconds.
But this is a green car, so it's only right to flaunt it as such. Reductions of 15 percent in emissions are achieved through the use of LPG, while with over 2700 refuelling stations offering liquid gas in Germany, it is a readily available fuel which is sold at below the price of ever-rising gasoline.
Set to remain exclusively in AC Schnitzer's portfolio of concept vehicles, the one-off GP3.10 GAS POWERED has been valued at 198,000 Euros. The tuner however remarks that components may very well trickle down to future models.
Second World Record in a Row : AC Schnitzer builds fastest gas car
GP3.10 GAS POWERED achieves 318 km/h at Nardo
Nardo, the legendary high speed track, has been the setting for so many record attempts. Once a year at the track in Southern Italy, under the supervision of "CONTINENTAL AG” and in collaboration with the editors of "AUTO BILD sportscars”, the Creme de la Creme of tuners fight it out – this year on 20th and 21st October 2007. AC Schnitzer, with its Concept Car GP3.10 GAS POWERED, was the world's first company to turn the event motto "Beyond 300 km/h” into reality with a liquid gas powered vehicle. At the end of the GPS speed measurement on the 13km long high speed track, which fundamentally is just an enormous circle, the digital instrument display read 318.1 km/h.
This makes the GP3.10 GAS POWERED, based on the current BMW 3-series coupé with a modified M5 engine, officially the world's fastest vehicle with liquid gas fuel. The vehicle is powered by a bivalent ten-cylinder engine delivering 552 HP/406 kW. Last year, AC Schnitzer broke another world record in Nardo with the TENSION. Based on the BMW M6, this has since been the undisputed fastest road-going BMW in the world.
Expectations this year in the Engineering Team were equally high for the new GP3.10 GAS POWERED vehicle. Especially since there were just four weeks between its world premiere at the IAA Frankfurt and the Highspeed Event in Nardo in which to finalise the set-up. A sensation: the AC Schnitzer GP3.10 GAS POWERED is the fastest gas-powered car in the world. This proves that high speeds can be achieved by an alternative route. The eye-catching AC Schnitzer GP3.10 GAS POWERED is a high-performance coupé powered by LPG. Power and efficiency, economy and ecology are here combined in an exciting study.
