A company as big as BMW will always be in the rumor mill with regards to what new model it’s cooking up or what current model is going to get discounted. That’s always been the case for the German automaker, and from the looks of things, the rumors aren’t going to go away anytime soon. The latest one is particularly interesting because it suggests a 6 Series model designed to rival the iconic Porsche 911.
To be fair, that rumor has been in the mill for quite some time, although it has come in different versions over the years. There was one back in 2014 that talked about the Toyota-BMW partnership giving birth to a range of mid-engined sports cars that would go up against the 911. It even gained a code name – Silk Road 2 – and reportedly had names of their own: BMW Z7 and Lexus ZC. Those rumors didn’t materialize the way they were presented, but this new buzz, which comes by way of Automobile Magazine, claims that BMW will slot in a 911-rival sports car within the 6 Series family to replace the departed 6 Series Cabriolet.
Not much is known about the car itself, but it does have a penciled name at the moment: 9 Series. Word also has it that the sports car will make use of the same CLAR architecture that will also be used to underpin the other members of the 6 family. The sports car is also reportedly getting a a 500-pound diet and will feature a hybrid powertrain that will be made up of a straight-six twin-turbo engine and a pair of “high-performance” electric motors. The estimate now is for the car to get a combined output of somewhere around 550 horsepower.
It remains to be seen if BMW will push forward with this plan given how many other models its currently producing. But as many models as BMW already has in the market today, a legitimate performance-oriented sports car that can take the fight to the Porsche 911 has to be high up on that list of priorities.
Continue after the jump to read the full story.
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