The BMW 320 TC is a racing car built under

Super 2000 Super 2000 is an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA powertrain specification used in the World Rally Championship, the British Touring Car Championship, the World Touring Car Championship, and other touring car racing, touring car ...

specifications, which competed in the FIA

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sing ...

from 2011 to 2014. The car came into use as a customer car, after BMW ended their WTCC factory program at the end of the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

season.

History

The BMW 320 TC is the further development of the BMW 320si WTCC, with which

Andy Priaulx Andrew Graham Priaulx, Order of the British Empire, MBE ( born 7 August 1974) is a British people, British racing driver from Guernsey. In 2019 he raced for Chip Ganassi Racing, Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK in the FIA World Endurance Championship, ...

won the World Touring Car Championship for BMW in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. Well over 60 models have been delivered to date by BMW Motorsport Distribution. The new BMW 320 TC, which from

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

can be used in series in accordance with the new Super 2000 regulations, is driven by a 1.6 litre, DI-turbo, four-cylinder engine called P13, because it was based on N13B16. The six-speed,

sequential gearbox A sequential manual transmission, also known as a sequential gearbox or sequential transmission, is a type of non-synchronous manual transmission used mostly in motorcycles and racing cars. It produces faster shift times than traditional sync ...

, which can be used to configure the circuit-specific transmission ratio, is also a new feature.

2011 WTCC regulation changes

In 2011 the FIA introduced the Super 2000 Kit Variant package, which allowed teams and manufacturers to change the engines of Super 2000 racing cars with 1600 ccm turbocharged engines. BMW Motorsport manufactured their own version of the new engine which was available for purchase to customer racing teams from 2011. The car won five races in the WTCC. Its first victory was achieved by

Franz Engstler Franz Engstler (born 25 July 1961) is a German auto racing driver. Racing career Born in Kempten im Allgäu, Engstler started racing in the European Hillclimbing Championship and the German Long Distance Cup, which he won. From 1988 he competed ...

in Race 2 of 2011 FIA WTCC Race of Germany. The second victory came at 2011 FIA WTCC Race of Japan by

Tom Coronel Tom Romeo Coronel (born 5 April 1972) is a Dutch professional racing driver. Tom's twin brother Tim Coronel, Tim is also a racer, just like their father Tom Coronel Sr. His most important results are winning the Masters of Formula 3, Marlboro Mast ...

Norbert Michelisz Norbert Michelisz (born 8 August 1984) is a Hungarian auto racing driver. He was the 2019 winner of the World Touring Car Cup and winner of the TCR World Tour in 2023 and 2024. Career Early career Michelisz was the 2006 Hungarian Suzuki Swi ...

took the third win in front of his home crowd at the

2012 FIA WTCC Race of Hungary The 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Hungary was the fifth round of the 2012 World Touring Car Championship season and the second running of the FIA WTCC Race of Hungary. It was held on 6 May 2012 at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród near Budapest, Hungary. The f ...

. The fourth and fifth victories came in 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Austria and in

2012 FIA WTCC Race of Japan The 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Japan was the tenth round of the 2012 World Touring Car Championship season and the fifth running of the FIA WTCC Race of Japan. It was held on 21 October 2012 at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Mie, Suzuka City, Japan. The ...

, both when

Stefano D'Aste Stefano D'Aste (born 26 February 1974 in Genoa) is an Italian auto racing driver. His early racing career included competing on motorcycles and the Monza International Rally. He has competed in the World Touring Car Championship between 2004 (wh ...

took the checkered flag in Race 2.

Chassis

The self-supporting BMW 320 TC body is manufactured in BMW Plant

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

alongside the production body shells for the BMW 1 and 3 Series. Compared to the production

BMW E90 The fifth generation of the BMW 3 Series range of compact executive cars is designated under the model codes E90 (saloon), E91 (estate, marketed as 'Touring'), E92 (coupé) and E93 (convertible). The model was introduced in December 2004, and ...

model, the axles and the suspension geometry has been changed significantly. The new axles design include a camber setting that could be adjusted independently of any other settings parameters, such as

roll center The roll center of a vehicle is the notional point at which the cornering forces in the suspension are reacted to the vehicle body. There are two definitions of roll center. The most commonly used is the geometric (or kinematic) roll center, whe ...

and track. This would make the axles easier for semi-professional teams to set up. The track width and camber were increased, while the wheel carrier and bearing were carried over from the production model.

Information

Teams and drivers

Current teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers entered the BMW 320 TC for the

2013 World Touring Car Championship season The 2013 World Touring Car Championship season was the tenth season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA World Touring Car Championship, and the ninth since the series was revived in 2005 World Touring Car Championship season ...

External links

Official website of the WTCC

References

{{reflist 320 TC Compact cars Cars introduced in 2006 Touring cars