Hartge H1 V8 5.0 (as in BMW 1 series with E39 M5 engine, $150.000)
11-18-05, 09:17 PM
#2
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Hartge H1 V8 5.0
It has an old M5 engine and costs more than a new M5...
Y
ou've gotta love the Germans. Despite being regularly lampooned by British tabloids for their humourless approach to life, these guys are serious comedians. Take Hartge GmbH for example. Its factory is one of the most impressive anywhere, with the ambience of an F1 engineering facility: spacious, spotless and with high ceilings that let in lots of light - more operating theatre than automotive production line. And then Hartge goes and builds this, the fastest, maddest, most expensive 1-series the world has yet seen.
It's called the H1 V8 5.0, which signifies that under the bonnet lies the muscle of the previous- generation M5 (the E39). In other words, it's a tiny car powered by a monster V8 motor. And the fun doesn't stop there because Hartge felt the standard M5 engine wasn't quite up to the task, so the engineers fitted wilder cams and reworked the head to unleash 450bhp and 376lb ft of torque - I told you these boys were crazy.
Crazy, but not stupid, for pretty much the whole car has been reworked. Hartge specialises in transplanting big hearts into unsuspecting compact bodyshells and knows just how much extra general strengthening has to be added so that the car doesn't fold up like a paper cup. The gearbox is the M5's manual six-speeder, but with a shortened M5 propshaft feeding drive to a modified M3 variable-locking M diff. There's a new, strengthened rear
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subframe and the suspension has been replaced with Hartge's own sport kit, which is 30mm lower than normal, fully adjustable and incorporates uprated anti-roll bars. Finishing the job is a set of 19in polished Hartge wheels, which at the front expose massive eight-piston callipers and 380mm drilled discs.
However, all that work was nothing compared with the effort that went into accommodating that massive lump of an engine. First there were the mods to the engine bay itself and the relocation of many of the ancillaries (the sump had to be reversed, too); then there was the matter of the steering column, which could no longer follow its normal path. And then there was the ECU. PR boss Jörg Wey says that getting the components of the old-school V8 to talk to the latest-generation 1-series software was the biggest headache of all.
Hartge H1 V8 5.0
But Hartge clearly overcame all of these obstacles and more, because here I am in the H1, held firmly in place by the deep, Alcantara-trimmed seat usually found in an M3 CSL. The 1-series' standard trim has been junked in favour of swathes of carbonfibre and just to the right of an overly fussy steering wheel is the 'ENGINE START' button. I thumb it and the V8 erupts into life, sounding more forceful and hostile than it ever has in an M5. The bespoke, dual-piped exhaust complements the neat bodywork revisions and winds the volume up a couple of notches. The clutch is meaty but manageable and as I move off the car immediately feels like a pent-up ball of seismic energy awaiting release. Even while sauntering through Hartge's home town of Beckingen, the H1 feels like it has the force to alter the landscape.
Out in the hills above the town, it comes alive like no baby Beemer has before. The thrust is extraordinary and seemingly endless. Choose any gear you want and by 5000rpm the acceleration and the noise are phenomenal - and that's just the warm-up act. From here to the 7400rpm red line you enter Hartge's extreme zone where everything becomes a blur and you're in serious danger of crashing into the horizon.
However, this is more than just a comedy dragster to wind-up unsuspecting 911 owners; it does the cornering thing, too. The diminutive dimensions naturally endow the H1 with agility but it also feels reassuringly stable and it really can contain and deploy that huge power. Despite the extra weight in the nose, turn-in is sharp and it doesn't plough on or snap into oversteer. When the Pirelli P Zero Neros eventually give up their struggle to hold the H1 against the tarmac, it's the fronts that break free first, giving gentle understeer, which you can neutralise with a small lift off the throttle.
From there the driver can decide what to do, for the H1 has no traction control and is quite driftable. You need to be smart with your reactions because of the short wheelbase, and it has lost a smidge of steering feel compared with a regular 1-series, but it's not the handful you might expect and is more adjustable than you'd imagine. As is traditional with Hartge, if you squeeze the throttle that little bit more it's always prepared to smear the road with thick black lines. If you buy one of these, you will instantly become Pirelli's best friend.
Which brings us to the price... £76,000. Or, to put it another way, rather more than even a well-specced new M5. It's a lot and Hartge doesn't expect to sell many, making it an irrelevance in the grand scheme of things. But what the hell; it's just fabulous that there are engineers out there with the will and know-how to build something like this. It has to be the ultimate Q-car and we love it. Any chance of having one on long-term loan?
It has an old M5 engine and costs more than a new M5...
Y
ou've gotta love the Germans. Despite being regularly lampooned by British tabloids for their humourless approach to life, these guys are serious comedians. Take Hartge GmbH for example. Its factory is one of the most impressive anywhere, with the ambience of an F1 engineering facility: spacious, spotless and with high ceilings that let in lots of light - more operating theatre than automotive production line. And then Hartge goes and builds this, the fastest, maddest, most expensive 1-series the world has yet seen.
It's called the H1 V8 5.0, which signifies that under the bonnet lies the muscle of the previous- generation M5 (the E39). In other words, it's a tiny car powered by a monster V8 motor. And the fun doesn't stop there because Hartge felt the standard M5 engine wasn't quite up to the task, so the engineers fitted wilder cams and reworked the head to unleash 450bhp and 376lb ft of torque - I told you these boys were crazy.
Crazy, but not stupid, for pretty much the whole car has been reworked. Hartge specialises in transplanting big hearts into unsuspecting compact bodyshells and knows just how much extra general strengthening has to be added so that the car doesn't fold up like a paper cup. The gearbox is the M5's manual six-speeder, but with a shortened M5 propshaft feeding drive to a modified M3 variable-locking M diff. There's a new, strengthened rear
ADVERTISEMENT
subframe and the suspension has been replaced with Hartge's own sport kit, which is 30mm lower than normal, fully adjustable and incorporates uprated anti-roll bars. Finishing the job is a set of 19in polished Hartge wheels, which at the front expose massive eight-piston callipers and 380mm drilled discs.
However, all that work was nothing compared with the effort that went into accommodating that massive lump of an engine. First there were the mods to the engine bay itself and the relocation of many of the ancillaries (the sump had to be reversed, too); then there was the matter of the steering column, which could no longer follow its normal path. And then there was the ECU. PR boss Jörg Wey says that getting the components of the old-school V8 to talk to the latest-generation 1-series software was the biggest headache of all.
Hartge H1 V8 5.0
But Hartge clearly overcame all of these obstacles and more, because here I am in the H1, held firmly in place by the deep, Alcantara-trimmed seat usually found in an M3 CSL. The 1-series' standard trim has been junked in favour of swathes of carbonfibre and just to the right of an overly fussy steering wheel is the 'ENGINE START' button. I thumb it and the V8 erupts into life, sounding more forceful and hostile than it ever has in an M5. The bespoke, dual-piped exhaust complements the neat bodywork revisions and winds the volume up a couple of notches. The clutch is meaty but manageable and as I move off the car immediately feels like a pent-up ball of seismic energy awaiting release. Even while sauntering through Hartge's home town of Beckingen, the H1 feels like it has the force to alter the landscape.
Out in the hills above the town, it comes alive like no baby Beemer has before. The thrust is extraordinary and seemingly endless. Choose any gear you want and by 5000rpm the acceleration and the noise are phenomenal - and that's just the warm-up act. From here to the 7400rpm red line you enter Hartge's extreme zone where everything becomes a blur and you're in serious danger of crashing into the horizon.
However, this is more than just a comedy dragster to wind-up unsuspecting 911 owners; it does the cornering thing, too. The diminutive dimensions naturally endow the H1 with agility but it also feels reassuringly stable and it really can contain and deploy that huge power. Despite the extra weight in the nose, turn-in is sharp and it doesn't plough on or snap into oversteer. When the Pirelli P Zero Neros eventually give up their struggle to hold the H1 against the tarmac, it's the fronts that break free first, giving gentle understeer, which you can neutralise with a small lift off the throttle.
From there the driver can decide what to do, for the H1 has no traction control and is quite driftable. You need to be smart with your reactions because of the short wheelbase, and it has lost a smidge of steering feel compared with a regular 1-series, but it's not the handful you might expect and is more adjustable than you'd imagine. As is traditional with Hartge, if you squeeze the throttle that little bit more it's always prepared to smear the road with thick black lines. If you buy one of these, you will instantly become Pirelli's best friend.
Which brings us to the price... £76,000. Or, to put it another way, rather more than even a well-specced new M5. It's a lot and Hartge doesn't expect to sell many, making it an irrelevance in the grand scheme of things. But what the hell; it's just fabulous that there are engineers out there with the will and know-how to build something like this. It has to be the ultimate Q-car and we love it. Any chance of having one on long-term loan?
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just for the successful transplant. Other than that 
11-19-05, 01:04 PM
#12
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
May be fast but it's hideous. Even without being thrown around in a ride I'd hurl. 
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