Gallery: Falken's amazing race cars through the years

Variety is the spice of life. Well, that’s what we read on someone’s inspirational Instagram post. But it’s true when it comes to race cars. Both as a team and driver, mixing up race cars brings excitement and new challenges. And no one quite knows how to shake up its race cars like Falken Motorsports.

Over the years, the German team representing the Japanese tyre manufacturer have had a number of cool slicks ‘n’ wings stripped out specials hammer around the world’s finest tracks in its widely recognised mint green and blue livery.

This year, they’ve got another new car: the beastly big-winged BMW M6 GT3. It retains the 4.4-litre M TwinPower turbo version of the V8 founded in the M5 and M6, zinged up a bit and with power fed through a transaxle sequential six-speed ‘box.

Built from a steel chassis, the M6 GT3 gets a welded FIA-approved safety cell, and carbon-fibre crash structures at the front and back. Regulations dictate the GT3 makes ‘only’ 577bhp in its most powerful state. So it’s slightly down on power when compared to a road-going ‘Competition’ packaged M6.

But what the racer has lost in power, it’s made up in aero and weight loss. The wholesale stripping of non-essentials has led to a weight saving of 625kg from the road-going M6, the racer tipping the scales at 1,300kg.

Meanwhile, to improve airflow and make room under the arches for sticky race rubber, the car has swollen significantly. With a gaping mouth and wider cheeks, the M6’s familiar feline features look like they’ve stood too close to the whooshy end of a Dyson Airblade. And better for it. 

It’s also been slammed to the floor on race springs, and gained a big chin spoiler, a more central seating position for the driver, an endless array of slats, and the biggest and best Bavarian Motor Works wing they could find attached to the back. 

The M6 is set to compete in the this year’s VLN Championship and Nürburgring 24hrs against its sister car, a Porsche 911 GT3 R. Front engine vs rear engine. Who will be the winner? We’ll have to wait until later this year to find out. 

In the meantime, to celebrate the new Bee-Em entering the Falken fold, why not flick through the gallery of every car to wear its famous colours above. Be warned, the following gallery contains traces of Skyline, Supra and Escort Cosworth...