BMW is the kind of car brand that creates mental images of luxurious interiors, German engineering, and great handling vehicles … not single digit passes on an American drag strip. Mike Radowski from Maximum PSI/Bimmer Clinic decided to make the latter of the options a reality with his 2016 F80 M3 BMW. Radowski’s ride is a 9-second, street-driven sledgehammer wrapped in a luxury car package.
Radowski and his team have been building BMW’s that feed on big boost since 2007 and when the F80 M3 line was introduced he decided he had to own one. The goal for Radowski was simple: build the fastest F80 in the world, and he was ready to do whatever it took. He secured a 2016 model and work began on building the car.
Powering the BMW is an engine built in-house at Maximum PSI with a head ported by VAC Motorsports. Boost is supplied by a pair of Pure S2+ turbos and it flows through a turbo system built by Maximum PSI. Air for the turbo system is chilled by an Evolution of Speed intercooler while a Fuel-it fuel system keeps the engine fed. Tuning is handled by RK Tunes and Maximum PSI software while a set of Dodson Motorsport DCT clutches keep the transmission shifting nice and crisp. The end result was a new F80 platform record pass of 9.35 at 151 mph this year.
To make this record happen and improve the performance of the BMW Radowski and his team have developed many of their own parts. Make no mistake, this F80 might perform like a full racecar with low 9-second passes, but it still sees a lot of street action along with Radowski’s other rides.
“We developed many of our own products for the car in addition to parts from Pure Turbos, Dodson Motorsport, Evolution of Speed, Burger Tuning, and TPG. We were also one of the first companies to install a port injection system on the car so that we could run higher mixtures of ethanol. I drive the car all the time, along with my turbo E46 M3 and my 520-horse Dodge Omni GLH.”
TalonTSi97 Videos has the footage of Radowski making a few passes and then ultimately setting the world record.