It scarcely appears doable that BMW Motorrad’s lineup-leading S1000RR sportbike truly made its official public debut an entire decade and a half in the past in April 2008, with deliveries starting the next 12 months. Though 15 years is a very long time, particularly within the Superbike enviornment, the place severe gamers like BeeEm, in addition to Ducati, Aprilia, and the Japanese, don’t stint on investing in fast-moving high-end technical R&D in pursuit of engineering excellence, the German model’s first-ever buyer bike with a transverse-mounted four-cylinder has maintained its forefront fame for each mechanical and digital innovation ever since then, and the newly launched newest model is not any exception.
It is because, for the approaching 2023 mannequin 12 months, BMW has primarily uprated its current quantity manufacturing model of the bike by transplanting a great chunk of the array of technical upgrades out there till now solely to round 1,200 well-heeled or well-sponsored customers of the M1000RR, the uber-expensive, uber-performing model of BMW’s street-legal superbike that’s been on sale for the previous two years, primarily as a homologation particular for Superbike racing. As such, it earned its maintain by powering Peter Hickman to a trio of record-breaking race wins on the 2022 Isle of Man TT – albeit with out breaking his astounding outright single-lap report of 135.452mph set within the 2018 Senior TT on an S1000RR – whereas additionally registering hard-fought race wins for Hicky and Danny Buchan within the hot-as-Hades BSB collection. Nonetheless, to date the BMW has didn’t be a real contender for prime honors in World Superbike for the previous decade, ever since Marco Melandri completed third within the factors desk on an S1000RR in 2012 – and that’s regardless of confirmed WSBK winner Scott Redding becoming a member of the manufacturing unit workforce final season.
An all-new engine
Whereas BMW’s authentic game-changing, extremely short-stroke 2009 S1000RR set new requirements on debut for collection manufacturing four-cylinder Superbike know-how, in 2019 there was a heavy revamp with lower than 5% of the 8,200 elements making up your entire bike, together with the engine, carried over from earlier than. BMW Motorrad administration was seeking to considerably enhance on the prevailing bike’s efficiency, which means they wished it to be one second sooner on the racetrack, greater than 10kg lighter, and simpler to regulate, with improved rideability. Doing this entailed creating an all-new, lighter, extra compact and extra highly effective 999cc engine measuring an unchanged 80 x 49.7 mm, which whereas 12mm narrower than its predecessor, additionally weighed 8.8 lbs much less. This was thanks partly to a crankshaft 4 lbs lighter than earlier than carrying 4mm shorter and 10% lighter conrods, which collectively delivered even higher pickup all through the rev vary. However essentially the most vital step that’s been carried ahead alongside these different options to the 2023 mannequin was the appliance of BMW’s patented ShiftCam Know-how launched on that 12 months’s R1250GS journey tourer’s Boxer motor, then transferred to BMW’s four-cylinder vary. This combines each variable consumption valve timing and differential valve carry, all in the identical bundle, and along with revised cam profiles is accountable for no less than 73.8 lb-ft of torque being out there between 5,500 rpm and 14,600 rpm, the place the short-stroke engine’s unchanged soft-action limiter cuts in. And that 8.8-lb weight saving got here regardless of the two.2-lb weight penalty entailed in becoming the ShiftCam system.
BMW Motorrad’s ShiftCam Know-how owes nothing to the Vanos variable valve timing know-how developed 30 years in the past to be used on BMW automobiles, nor the Valvetronic variable valve carry system launched in 2001, each of which have been thought-about too cumbersome for bike use. As an alternative, the novel, extremely progressive ShiftCam system within the S1000RR engine’s cylinder heads combines each variable valve timing and differential valve carry, all in the identical bundle, as a method of optimizing cam timing and period for what you’re asking the engine to do. For part-throttle openings, or decrease down within the rev vary, the cam has a shorter carry and decreased period, which means the inlet valves are open much less. However ask for extra throttle or increased revs and the cam shifts sideways, bringing into play a better carry, longer period cam lobe, extra suited to outright efficiency.
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That is achieved by having the inlet camshaft of every cylinder incorporating two completely different cam profiles mounted aspect by aspect on the identical shaft. One in all these is a partial-load cam, which has been configured to ship improved gasoline consumption and refinement at part-throttle. The opposite is a full-load cam designed for enhanced output by way of extra aggressive throttle openings, which delivers longer period inlet valve openings. Via an axial shift backward and forward of every inlet camshaft, the paired inlet valves on every cylinder are activated by way of their finger followers by both the partial-load or the full-load cam, relying on engine rpm, gear chosen, and throttle load, with that axial shift affected via a pin that’s electronically actuated by way of the ECU, working the shift gate on the camshaft.
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Because of this because the throttle opens wider by way of the twistgrip, the digital actuator lifts a pin to lock into the inlet camshaft gate. The rotation of the camshaft then permits the pin to attract the camshaft sideways, to deliver the extra aggressive longer period cam lobes into line with the valves. When the throttle is closed, the camshaft is pulled again throughout the cylinder head, and onto the much less aggressive smaller profile cam employed for regular use. Both manner, the change is virtually instantaneous, taking simply 10 milliseconds to perform. That’s lower than the blink of a watch.
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Moreover, the variable configuration of the cam geometry additionally permits a variation within the inlet valves’ stroke. Whereas the full-load cam gives most valve stroke, the partial-load cam delivers decreased stroke. There may be additionally a phased differential opening between the left and right-hand inlet valves in every cylinder, by way of each stroke and angular place. This phased shift signifies that the 2 inlet valves are opened a differential quantity by way of carry – i.e. another than the opposite – and on a time-staggered foundation. This helps create extra swirl for the incoming cost of air and gasoline, and thus higher agitation of the combination because it flows into the combustion chamber. This leads to each improved combustion – so, an even bigger bang – in addition to extra full burning of the gasoline, thus making certain decreased emissions and a claimed as much as 4% decrease gasoline consumption. And the smoother supply and broader unfold of torque additionally reduces the propensity of the bike to drag wheelies, as there isn’t such a fierce spike within the torque supply. However the greatest benefit of the ShiftCam Know-how in dynamic phrases is the noticeable improve in ridability in each regular street circumstances, and in excessive efficiency use on the racetrack, because of the considerably enhanced midrange energy, and the extensive unfold of torque it delivers.
Now, in pursuit of higher efficiency at increased revs, BMW has transposed the M1000RR’s airbox and cylinder head to the amount manufacturing Euro 5-compliant 2023 S1000RR, although its new consumption porting is forged in right here slightly than milled out, as on the M RR. As earlier than, the uprated S RR engine is fitted with a variable-length consumption system whereby the peak of the inlet trumpets atop the 48mm throttle our bodies that are actually shorter general for 2023, is additional decreased by way of an electrical servomotor mounted on the airbox working at 11,900 rpm (a hefty 2,900 revs increased than earlier than) to boost prime finish efficiency at the side of the ShiftCam Know-how system. This has allowed BMW to boost energy by 3bhp to 207bhp at 13,750 rpm, 250 revs increased than beforehand, with peak torque unchanged at 83 lb-ft, however delivered 500 rpm increased at 11,000 rpm.
Furthermore, the throttle linkage working the 4 throttle butterflies is cut up into two, with the 2 left-hand throttle our bodies operated individually than the 2 right-hand ones. This has allowed BMW race groups to programme the 2 pairs to work individually at decrease rpm to provide the identical advantages as a twin-cylinder motor by way of traction and drive exiting a flip, earlier than all 4 resume working in unison at increased revs. This characteristic resulted from BMW deciding to not produce a big-bang Yamaha R1-type crossplane-crank engine, however as a substitute to make use of its decade-long expertise of a extra conventional 180° screamer motor in constructing a greater such design. BMW engineers admit they did contemplate a big-bang design on the very outset of the event programme for the 2019 revamp, and likewise briefly thought-about constructing a V4. However they determined in opposition to each of those early on, not solely as a result of they didn’t wish to be seen to repeat anybody else, but in addition as a result of they’d a lot expertise particularly from Superbike and Endurance racing in creating the extra traditional-type four-cylinder in-line engine, so that they determined to focus on constructing a good higher one – as in, play to your strengths. Look how that benefitted Kawasaki and Jonathan Rea….
BMW’s option to mount accent carbo-fiber wheels makes it nearly inconceivable to evaluate how the bike will carry out in inventory trim due to the faster steering and higher acceleration allowed by the decrease rotational mass.
To enrich the additional efficiency increased up the rev scale, the 2023 S1000RR’s general gearing has been lowered by way of a 1T greater rear sprocket, up from 45T to 46T, so you may dial up the revs sooner to entry that additional energy and the meaty unfold of torque. That’s all in pursuit of improved rear finish grip and enhanced acceleration, albeit at the price of a slight lower in homologated (as in, confirmed) prime velocity from 190mph to 188mph. Pull your elbows in and also you would possibly discover the lacking mph! To search out out what the consequence was prefer to experience on monitor (sadly, there was no alternative to take action on the road), I went to the BMW press launch on the 2.67mi Almeria circuit within the southeast nook of Spain, full with its six-tenths of a mile-long again straight and lots of tough turns, some with blind apexes. It was ultimate for assessing the street-legal BMW. An vital word: every check bike was fitted for the launch with elective carbon wheels [a move which radically alters the bike’s handling – EB] from BMW’s aftermarket catalog, shod with sticky Bridgestone twin compound V02 slicks – the rear a narrower 190/55-17 fitment, slightly than the 200-section tires on its Italian rivals.
Useful winglets and a versatile chassis
Additionally derived from the M-series mannequin is the obvious distinction between new and outdated within the type of the winglets fitted to the 2023 S1000RR’s subtly restyled bodywork. These aren’t only a styling characteristic; they’re claimed to generate as much as 16.8 lbs of downforce at 124mph, rising to 37.7 lbs at 186mph. Their look is probably not to everybody’s style on such a slinky-looking machine because the ’23 S1000RR, however perform has it over type each time on this class of motorbike. They assist scale back wheelies with out TC being referred to as upon to take action on the expense of decreased torque and energy being transmitted to the rear tire. This implies improved acceleration, in addition to enhanced entrance tire grip throughout braking and cornering. Sure the winglets inevitably add drag, the engine’s additional energy largely compensates for that. As well as, BMW has helped counter that drag additional by way of a taller, reshaped windshield that helps enhance the movement across the rider’s helmet, and there’s an additional aerodynamic enchancment achieved by partitioning off the decrease triple clamp. There’s a alternative of three colours for the bodywork – Black metallic, Pink non-metallic and BMW’s trademark White racing livery, with the value the identical for all three variants at $17,895, in comparison with $32,495 in 2022 for the M1000RR. What a discount! Nicely, till you begin ticking packing containers on the intensive checklist of equipment…
That shark-eyed bodywork with redesigned entrance and rear sections and a shorter quantity plate holder envelops a revamped model of the RR’s current aluminum bridge body. This includes a welded-up meeting of 4 separate gravity die-cast components embracing the engine – nonetheless inclined ahead by 32° as earlier than – appearing as a totally load-bearing chassis part. Nonetheless, with the intention of optimizing lateral flex as a way to present higher suggestions to the rider of what the wheels are doing, this so-called ‘Flex Body’ has now been given a number of cutouts in its flanks to advertise stated flex. This can be a technique courting again to the works Honda RVF750 Suzuka 8-Hours Endurance racers of the Eighties, which first manifested itself exterior of Japan within the factory-supported Rumi Honda RC30 raced within the 1990 World Superbike collection by Baldassarre Monti. This was the primary aluminum beam-framed Superbike to discover this system of selling flex in pursuit of the identical rider-friendly ‘talkback’ which Ducati V-twin riders have all the time loved (till just lately!) with their tubular metal chassis, and the 2023 S1000RR is the newest such bike to learn from this technique.
Moreover, the brand new RR chassis has barely much less aggressive steering geometry derived from the M RR, with the steering head angle for the fully-adjustable 45mm closed-cartridge Marzocchi fork delivering 4.7 in. of wheel journey kicked out half a level to 23.6° and the offset decreased by 3mm, leading to path growing from 3.7 in. to three.9 in. On the similar time, the wheelbase has been prolonged to 57.4 in. (from 56.7 in”, so three-quarters of an inch longer) by way of an all-new gravity diecast one-piece twin-sided swingarm with underslung sections, with the rear wheel made simpler to put in and take away for monitor days or races, because of the brake pads and brake anchor plate now being chamfered, plus the revised mounting of the fitting aspect rear axle bushes, to forestall loss. One other transplant from the M RR is the adjustability of the swingarm pivot level (vary unknown) and the peak of the rear Marzocchi shock, once more ten-click absolutely adjustable and giving 4.6 in. of rear axle journey. My check bike got here fitted with the elective DDC (Dynamic Damping Management) bundle, which delivers semi-active digital damping adjustment entrance and rear, whose settings are altered to swimsuit the chosen using mode.
Electronics embrace Brake Slide Help
The ’23 S1000RR has an advanced electronics bundle with a RBW (Experience by Wire) throttle providing 5 completely different using modes – Rain, Street, Dynamic and Race, plus Race Professional which additionally will get three ranges of throttle response and engine braking choices. These, mixed with a triple-axis, six-direction Continental IMU, management the array of rider aids, most of them switchable: Cornering ABS Professional, multi-stage DTC, engine braking adjustment, anti-wheelie, hill begin help, launch management, cruise management, a lap timer, three-stage heated grips, a pit lane velocity limiter, engine braking torque management (MSR) and the Dynamic Brake Management (DBC), which BMW says ‘gives extra help throughout emergency braking’ – i.e. stops stoppies!
As well as, BMW engineers are happy with their Brake Slide Help (BSA) system that, do you have to be sufficiently courageous in addition to knowledgeable sufficient to take action, helps you to again right into a flip by limiting rear brake strain and rear wheel spin to attain a managed, predetermined drift angle, earlier than the lean-sensitive ABS cuts in. This new system relies on steering angle sensors mounted on the bike for the primary time, which allow you to set a particular drift angle for so-called braking drifts whereas sliding into turns at a maintained velocity. When the preset steering angle is reached, TC intervenes, reduces spin, and stabilizes the bike.
Additionally included are a light-weight lithium battery, USB charging port, a really neat GoPro holder, and a brand new wiring loom to make eradicating the tail lamps and quantity plate holder for monitor days simpler. Claimed kerb weight for the brand new bike stays unchanged at 434 lbs with all liquids, together with a full 4.4-gallon gasoline tank (so round 392 lbs dry) for the usual bike, 431 with the elective Race Bundle which options solid aluminum wheels as a substitute of the inventory forged ones, and 426 lbs with the M Bundle possibility, which incorporates the carbon wheels and seat fitted to the check bike. This additionally carried the Efficiency Bundle consisting of an Akrapovič slip-on exhaust and the Endurance chain developed by BMW’s manufacturing unit World Endurance workforce. Stopping the general consequence are the identical twin 320mm Brembo entrance discs as earlier than, however these are actually gripped by new Nissin monoblock four-piston calipers, changing the Hayes stoppers launched in 2019 as a startling substitution for the Brembos used beforehand. There’s a 220mm rear disc with twin-pot caliper, and Continental’s cornering ABS is retained, with requisite upgrades.
Monitor efficiency
Having digested this checklist of upgrades to what was already a fairly dam’ good bike, I couldn’t wait to get out on monitor at Almeria to search out out if, in making an attempt to make it even higher, BMW had chucked the child out with the bathwater. Hopping aboard allayed one concern – this is similar two-wheeled conundrum as earlier than, within the form of a motorbike that, regardless of the longer wheelbase and additional bits of bodywork, feels about the identical measurement as a 600 Supersport, whereas delivering the insanely quick efficiency of a TT-winning one-liter Superbike. The body is surprisingly slender, particularly on the stepover level behind the gasoline tank, regardless of the motor’s in-line 4 configuration, BMW says it’s solely 20mm wider than a V4 engined bike of equal capability in that space. This makes it simpler so that you can grasp the gasoline tank created from three welded-together aluminum sections together with your knees, but in addition offers you room to maneuver in regards to the bike, as obligatory.
The clip-on ‘bars are unfold additional out than on the earlier bike, including to the identical unbelievable sense of spaciousness for what within the metallic is a a lot smaller bike than it appears to be in pictures, and the taller, reshaped new display screen helps make you are feeling such as you’re sitting throughout the BMW slightly than atop it. It additionally offers glorious safety for a 5’10” rider down Almeria’s fundamental straight, with the super-legible 6½in. TFT sprint’s digital speedo studying simply upwards of 170 mph. Sure, I do know – I ought to have pulled these elbows in higher. However there doesn’t appear to be as a lot weight in your wrists and shoulders as I keep in mind from the outdated bike, so this new one will presumably be a good higher experience for the longer haul. Plus the additional flex which BMW engineers have dialed into the brand new body design is presumably one motive it feels extra responsive, and provides improved suggestions from the entrance finish, particularly when making an attempt to maintain up flip velocity within the tough triple-apex right-hander behind the Almeria monitor.
There, the primary a part of the flip taken as you crest a small hill is blind, so it’s a must to be super-precise in selecting your entry level, and though I’ve been using at Almeria ever because it opened within the late-‘90s, and have examined the whole lot from manufacturing unit 500GP and World Superbike racers there all the way down to (in capability, not as a problem!) Jack Miller’s Moto3 KTM, it nonetheless all the time takes me time to get dialed in once more due to the hidden apexes, and this check was no exception. However the BMW was an ideal companion for doing this, as a result of regardless of having that vast prime finish efficiency and thrilling acceleration, it’s additionally amazingly forgiving when your reminiscence betrays you, otherwise you get seduced into considering you’ve acquired this circuit licked by having achieved the final collection of corners fairly properly. This can be a bike that’s simpler than ever to go quick on – however can even pardon your inevitable overconfidence errors in a manner that’s nearly uncanny.
So, whenever you get over-ambitious together with your flip velocity and must again off the throttle getting into a bend at the price of lacking your apex and drifting extensive – you suppose – the BMW’s electronics take over and shut the nook entry for you, so that you simply’re again the place you must have been within the first place, however to your extra of ambition. Like I stated – uncanny. Identical factor braking from someplace round 170 mph on the finish of the half-mile-long fundamental straight, right into a second-gear 90° right-hander. The entire stability delivered by the engine braking program as you max out your late-braking abilities not solely makes it appear every lap as when you might have hit that fabulously efficient Nissin/Brembo brake cocktail just a bit bit later – however then whenever you do inevitably overdo issues and go previous your turn-in level whereas making an attempt unsuccessfully to emulate Toprak Razgatliogu, the BMW’s digital program to regulate stoppies kicks in because it helps you to get well, cease, flip in, and proceed as regular, having misplaced barely any time in any respect. That’s uncanny – once more.
It appears utterly unbelievable to say this of a 200bhp-plus bike, however the overwhelming impression you get from using this new BMW is how simple it’s to take action in one thing approaching anger. The ShiftCam perform, the sticky dual-compound Bridgestone rear slick, the lean-sensitive Continental TC and that shorter general gearing mix with the engine’s accessible energy supply even in Race Professional mode to ship actually thrilling acceleration whenever you wind the throttle extensive open as you click on by the gears on the faultless wide-open two-way quickshifter – however with out your having to even graze the rear brake lever together with your proper toe to strangle a time-wasting wheelie at beginning: the BMW’s thought forward and achieved it for you.
Likewise the improbably delicate, exact steering that this 396-lb-plus bike delivers in plotting a path by that triple-axis flip, when you play the throttle backwards and forwards in trying to find the proper velocity in every a part of the bend. Having lastly re-learnt the fitting line and dialed within the correct cornering velocity, the satisfaction you get from fixing that dynamic puzzle accurately and repeating it lap after lap is one thing any monitor day rider, not to mention a racer, will know brings large satisfaction – and this BMW will play a vital function in serving to you obtain that. What a stunning bike it’s to experience arduous, with such well-mapped, responsive fueling that allows you to wind the throttle open progressively because the nook you’re taking opens up, feeling the rear Bridgestone hook up beneath you as you achieve this. Even riders who’re comparatively new to this stage of efficiency will discover this to be a motorbike that breeds self-confidence, as they be taught step-by-step find out how to use that 200bhp-plus engine efficiency that’s delivered to them so accessibly, with no trace of intimidation.
OK, I hear you say – however what in regards to the BSA Slide Management system? Does it work? Nicely, sorry readers, however I’ll gladly come clean with the truth that I can’t slide a rear Bridgestone slick at will in the best way I’m positive Scott Redding or Michael van der Mark would have achieved to check the system – however solely after switching off the TC, as a result of you may’t powerslide the again wheel except the tyre has misplaced grip, and is spinning up. I believe the very best factor for the remainder of us regular people is to be glad that the system is there as a security web, in case you make a mistake. In fact, sticking a rider-friendly treaded tire and making an attempt to take advantage of the BMW’s BSA can be one other matter, and I’ll admit I’m curious sufficient to wish to learn the way it really works – so let’s see what it’s like on a British spring day at a monitor like Donington Park, with a number of runoff!
A quick end
Whether or not it’s due to having extra energy, revamped electronics, stronger brakes, a extra responsive, extra flexy chassis with revised geometry that talks proper again to you, and winglets straight from the MotoGP paddock, the brand new 2023 S1000RR has a stage of efficiency and a level of digital help which places it on an entire new stage in comparison with its 2019 predecessor, the final time that BMW reinvented its Superbike mannequin. This new BMW makes going what every of us considers to be quick by our personal private requirements, simple. It’s a massively succesful superbike for each stage of using experience, from 600/765/950 Supersport graduates to hardened Superbike racing professionals, however with a good greater security margin in-built. My Almeria expertise was only a getting-to-know you taster: now I desire a longer, extra intimate relationship!
| 2023 BMW S1000RR | |
|---|---|
| Engine | Liquid-cooled inline 4-cylinder |
| Capability | 999cc |
| Bore x stroke | 80.0 mm x 49.7 mm |
| Energy | 207 hp at 13,750 rpm (claimed) |
| Torque | 83 lb-ft. at 11,000 rpm (claimed) |
| Max. engine velocity | 14,600 rpm |
| Compression ratio | 13.3:1 |
| Gasoline | Energy rated at 98 RON. 95-98 RON knock management |
| Valvetrain | DOHC, valve actuation by way of single cam followers, BMW ShiftCam variable consumption cam management |
| Valves per cylinder | 4 |
| Consumption / Exhaust valve diameter | 33.5 mm / 27.2 mm |
| Throttle physique diameter | 48 mm |
| Engine management | BMS-0 |
| Emission management | Closed-loop three-way catalytic converter |
| Alternator | 493 watts |
| Battery | M light-weight battery 12v / 5 Ah |
| Headlamp | LED free-form twin low-beam, LED free-form high-beam |
| Starter | 0.8 kW |
| Clutch | Self-reinforcing multi-plate anti-hopping oil bathtub clutch, mechanically operated |
| Gearbox | 6-speed, constant-mesh |
| Major ratio | 1.652 |
| Transmission gear ratios I | 2.647 |
| II | 2.091 |
| III | 1.727 |
| IV | 1.5 |
| V | 1.36 |
| VI | 1.261 |
| Secondary ratio | 2.706 |
| Rear wheel drive kind | Chain |
| Body development kind | Aluminum composite bridge body, engine self-supporting |
| Entrance suspension | Upside-down telescopic fork, slide tube diameter 45 mm, spring preload, compression and rebound stage adjustable, DDC possibility: damping electronically adjustable |
| Rear suspension | Aluminum underslung double-sided swingingarm with central spring strut, spring preload, adjustable compression and rebound stage ,DDC possibility: damping electronically adjustable |
| Suspension journey entrance / rear | 4.7 / 4.6 |
| Wheel castor | 3.8 |
| Steering head angle | 23.6 |
| Brakes, entrance | Twin M 320 mm / 12.6-inch floating disks; 4-piston fastened calipers |
| Brakes, rear | Single 220 mm / 8.7-inch, two-piston fastened caliper |
| ABS | BMW Motorrad ABS Professional, partially integral, disengageable |
| Traction management | BMW Motorrad DTC |
| Wheels | Normal: Die-castaluminum wheels M aluminum-forged wheels as a part of Race Bundle possibility M Carbon wheels as a part of M Bundle possibility |
| Wheels, entrance / rear | 3.50 x 17 / 6.00 x 17 |
| Tires, entrance / rear | 120/70 ZR17 / 200/55 ZR17 |
| Size | 81.6 inches |
| Width | 33.3 inches |
| Wheelbase | 57.4 inches |
| Seat peak | 32.4 inches |
| Curb weight | Normal: 434 kilos (claimed) Race: 431 kilos (claimed) M: 427 kilos (claimed) |
| Gasoline tank capability | 4.36 gallons |
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