Drive Wire: May 3, 2016

Hey guys, it’s Marisa Hunter and this is Drive Wire for Tuesday, May 3.

Good news for diesel fans – BMW has a new quad turbo engine in the pipeline. Yes, that’s four turbos, two low-pressure units feeding two high-pressure units to pressurize a three-liter inline six. That should be good for 394 horsepower and 561lb-ft of torque, while returning an increase of five percent fuel efficiency over the old three-turbo motor. The four-turbo unit will debut in an upcoming 750d x-drive sedan, and will reportedly also make an appearance in performance-oriented “M” models, such as a new m550d sports sedan and even SUVs based on the X5 and X6.

Turning to overpowered pickup trucks, a segment we wish was larger, Roush has debuted their take on the ever-popular Ford F-150 and it looks rather handsome. There’s a new grille, a Fox coilover suspension package, a dual-pipe side-exit exhaust, and most importantly, their stage one supercharger. When all is said and done, the pickup will be good for 600 horsepower and 557 pound feet of torque. The Roush F-150 is fully warranted and sold at Ford dealers for about $11,000 over the price of the base truck.

Good news for financially responsible Corvette owners, (sarcastic pause) Chevrolet has announced pricing on the Corvette Grand Sport. If you’re not up on your Corvettes, the Grand Sport is basically all the good suspension and body bits from the supercharged Z06, but with the naturally-aspirated 460 horse V8. So you don’t get the extra 190 horses, but you save about fourteen grand. The Grand Sport starts around $66,000, making it one of the best bangs for your buck in the performance world. This is the Corvette a lot of us at drive-wire would have, optioned with the Z07 package and its carbon-ceramic brakes. This may be the performance bargain of the century.

Today’s gear features the geo-orbital wheel, a bicycle front wheel replacement that makes any bike electric in a single minute. The geo-orbital gives almost any bike 20mph capability, has a range of up to 50 miles, and since it’s a pedal-assist front wheel, basically gives your bike all-wheel drive. Very cool stuff, just make sure to lock that front wheel. Check it out on Kickstarter.

For today’s ridiculous video, check out Fabian Lentsch and his “snowmad” ski crew taking on the Iranian desert. Yes, skiing on dirt is a thing, but we’re perfectly content sticking with the cold white stuff. Nonetheless, watch as they treat the ribs of those Iranian dunes like the slopes in Aspen.

That’s it for today’s edition of Drive Wire. For more, be sure to come back to thedrive.com, and follow us at the drive on all your favorite social media platforms.