The Hunt for Horses – Part 1

DTM, or Design Technik Motorsports is the performance arm of local motor shop Autotechnika. Headed by tuner Tommy Teng, DTM specializes in modifying European makes, mostly those hailing from Deutschland. Armed with up-to-date automotive technology and a pool of tuning capabilities thanks to its extensive partners here and abroad, DTM does one thing pretty clear: make that bloody car of yours go faster.

As far as European cars go, it’s hard to get any better than BMWs. The task becomes even harder when they come with an M-badge. For this installment of Autoindustriya’s Tuned, we take a look at DTM’s Project M6. Can DTM improve upon Bavarian greatness? Let’s find out…

The BMW M6 comes packed with what we all look for in a car. Power. Power. And more power! Who cares about leg room or trunk space when you’re baby’s motivated by the M-division built 5 liter V-10? This 40-valve dual overhead beast-of-an-engine spits out a hair-raising 507 hp and 520 lb-ft, enough muscle to propel such a heavy car from rest to 100 kmh in a brief 4.6 secs.

Customary with all aftermarket tuners, DTM saw obvious room for improvement. Since the owner of this Bimmer can’t seem to get enough of a good thing, DTM supplied the commodity it deals best… power!

Part 1 of project M6 is all about extracting more push from the V10 mill. Tommy of DTM gives a very succinct game plan, “We don’t want to mess around with what the factory intended this car to be, a luxury GT-cruiser. Our goal is to simply enhance what this car does best, and that’s hitting high velocities in as little time possible.”

In the hunt for greater horses, better breathing is essential. First on the go-fast list was a Gruppe-M Ram Air System. The pair of bigger lungs allows the 5.0 naturally-aspirated engine to draw huge gulps of oxygen upon every application of the throttle. It’s also designed to channel in cooler air that results to more explosive combustion. The Gruppe M intake kit is comprised of two conical air filters and proprietary carbon fiber housing for each piece. The carbon bits are beauties any racing fan will appreciate, as they sit so prominently in the engine bay. Pop that hood, flash the exotic looking hardware perched on both sides, and show onlookers that your machine’s packing some heat!

Caution to the DIYs out there, this job isn’t as simple as it looks. Contrary to the intake systems found in smaller engines, the M6′s procedure required the entire front bumper to be taken out. Only then could the stock pieces be swapped for the Gruppe M, as this kit also comes with larger plumbing all throughout. It was worth all the trouble though as the finished product just speaks for itself.

Inhale. Exhale. With more air coming in, naturally you want more air coming out. Step 2 in the modification process was revising the flow of spent gases. Eliminating unwanted backpressure is a sure way to gaining more performance, so a less restrictive exhaust system from Supersprint was procured. DTM went with the entire gamut the Italian brand offered consisting of the exhaust manifold, front pipe with a metallic catalytic converter on both sides, and center “X” pipes that lead to the dual round rear exhaust pipes. All this bent tubing doesn’t come cheap mind you, as the whole package racked up close to half a million in Philippine currency. Before you blurt out expletives, the exhaust system does showcase pretty extensive engineering. The headers alone look like the ones you see in Formula-1 with numerous bending pieces molding into a single chamber. Remember, we’re dealing with a 10 cylinder. “The manifold reminds me of something out of the Alien movie, it looks freakishly out of the ordinary. I wanted to hang it on my office wall like a piece of art,” expressed Tommy.

Getting all of the parts installed was quite a challenge as the tight confines beneath the engine meant a lot of precision was needed. When all was done though, the Supersprint exhaust endowed the M6 with a whole new set of vocals. It was like someone had pissed it off, and all of a sudden the Bimmer had an angrier tone. Racy but not obnoxious, the new exhaust lends the M6 with a sense of subdued aggression. You get the feeling a storm is bottled up somewhere, just waiting on that right foot to unleash it, but until it does, a calm baritone idle is enough hint of its might.

DTM is one of the few tuning houses locally that can tinker with a vehicle’s ECU, or what you would call the car’s electronic brain. Flash tuning is its forte, and the M6 had its circuitry reconfigured for more power. It’s wasn’t like normal projects though since squeezing that last bit of juice from an M-motor is truly a challenge in itself. M-engines have optimized tolerances already in stock form, which is testament to BMW’s standards. “This is probably the most difficult vehicle I’ve done so far,” shares Tommy who had to reach deep in his bag of tricks to further extend the gains out of the tuning. Though he doesn’t want to disclose specifics on what he exactly worked on (it’s a trade secret), part of what he adjusted involved improving the air-fuel mixture and the timing. Tommy claims that flash tuning by DTM allows you to enjoy results tailor-fit to your car, compared to an ECU program acquired from abroad. Things like fuel quality and ambient temperature specific to local conditions affect the engine’s performance, so gains claimed by the programmer abroad may not necessarily reflect gains once tested locally.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating as they say, and the results are hard to argue with. Project M6 was baseline dyno’d at 336 whp. With the Gruppe M intake installed, power went up to 352 hp at the wheels (increase of 16 whp). With the M6 enjoying the new Supersprint exhaust system and the Gruppe M intake, the dyno registered 375 whp ( a further increase of 25 whp). Finally with the flash tuning and the bolt-on parts completed, Project M6 pulled 396 whp (increase of 21 whp), for a total of 60 whp gained from a naturally aspirated M-engine.

Is this the culmination of the hunt for more horses? What’s next for Project M6? We never said forced induction was out of the question. Or perhaps some handling enhancements? Catch us next time for Part 2 of DTM’s Project M6…

Two doors. Two turbos. One awesome ride. This could very well be the devil in white.

Straight out of the box, the BMW 335i is a pretty capable vehicle sporting the German automaker’s newly designed powerplant. For those wondering, it’s really not a 3.5 liter as the model designation might suggest, but rather a 3.0 liter in-line six fitted with a pair of slugs. An all-new aluminum construction allowed for a higher compression ratio, which when coupled with the benefits of twin-turbocharging, yields easily accessible power throughout the rev range.

But stock can get boring at some point…so let the modifications begin!

With the car’s inherent crisp lines, the best way to further accentuate the coupe’s sexiness is to swap the original rollers for bigger shoes. Enter the impressive 20-inch DPE rims. Proving to be a popular choice for European-car owners, this brand exudes class and sportiness perfect for discerning enthusiasts. Measuring 20×8.5 up front and 20×10 in the back, the 5 spoke wheels are constructed out of forged aluminum ensuring lightness and strength. The eye-catching rims are wrapped in Falken 452 tires sized 245/30/20 (F) and 285/25/20 [R].

Going with a racy yet understated look, the car’s new appearance is miles apart from stock. Quickly noticeable is the use of carbon fiber, starting with the Vorsteiner Power Dome hood and lip spoiler. The kidney grille has also been blacked out to get that sporty touch. Over at the other side, the entire rear bumper was swapped with a new M-tech piece, while the rear diffuser was replaced with one made of carbon fiber. Completing the aesthetic make-over are little bits taken from its M3 brother, namely the side-mirrors and the ducktail lip spoiler in the back.

A car that’s all show without go? No sir. Unlike the slew of Bimmers with impressive looks but with anemic stock 1.8 liters, this one is quite different.

With a manufacturer rating of 300 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque, this car gains more muscle with an aftermarket intake kit from Gruppe M. Beneath the bonnet, the new intake looks pretty impressive with its carbon fiber housing. Helping expel spent gases better are the Supersprint downpipe and center pipe, which are truly effective mods since turbocharged mills react positively to less restrictive exhausts. Rounding out the exhaust upgrade is the Eisenmann muffler, with four pipes no less! A PROcede V2 piggyback unit alters the factory ECU settings for enhanced output. As a pre-cautionary tool, an HKS blow-off valve was thrown in to help prevent compressor surge.

This Bimmer can carve corners too. It’s kitted with KW variant 2 coilovers, designed to allow not only ride height adjustment but rebound damping as well. This makes it perfect for the occasional track sessions where the owner can simply dial a bit more firmness for sharper handling, then revert back to a softer ride for everyday use. To help handle the stress of white knuckle motoring, Hawk performance brake pads were employed to resist fade.

The fun doesn’t stop there though, as this 335i is also a drop-top. It’s got a three piece fixed roof that tucks in neatly in just 22 seconds. First to be done by BMW in this application, the fixed roof provides a stiffer chassis all together, not to mention a more silent cabin at speed. With the roof down, one can get a nice look at the red upholstery that’s a welcome change from the sea of black found in most BeeEms. Hamann bits have also been fitted inside such as in the handbrake and foot pedals.

Over-all, this tuning effort takes an already impressive vehicle and bumps up the testosterone level way up. It looks fast. It can go even faster. The only thing left is a wide open road to let this thing loose and hear that wonderful exhaust note gnarl!