The Vantablack-Coated BMW X6 Is A Road-Going Stealth Bomber

A new BMW X6 is coming in September, and here’s a preview of an example painted with a special light-absorbing finish called Vantablack
The Vantablack-Coated BMW X6 Is A Road-Going Stealth Bomber

BMW has revealed an early preview of the new X6 coupe-slash-SUV, and it’s coated in a strange and stealthy new light-absorbing finish.

Vantablack, developed by Surrey NanoSystems, is a finish made up of vertically aligned nanotubes measuring as small as 14 micrometres by 20 nanometres, which collectively absorb almost all light. True Vantablack absorbs an astonishing 99.965 per cent of light.

The ‘Vanta’ part of the name comes from an acronym of its physical properties, known in full as Vertically Aligned Nano Tube Array.

The Vantablack-Coated BMW X6 Is A Road-Going Stealth Bomber

The X6’s exact coating, known as VBx2, has actually been revised to reintroduce about one per cent reflective properties, presumably so you don’t totally lose it at night. It does still manage to remove the usual 3D appearance of a car, though, making the big ‘Sports Activity Coupe’ look like Batman’s weekend wheels.

Speaking of wheels, no matter how much tyre dressing you put on your tyres, they will still look grey beneath a Vantablack coating. At least you’d have a pretty cool pub brag: the utter blackness of the paint was originally designed to absorb light around space-going camera and sensor equipment, therefore allowing for more sensitivity and accuracy in observations of far-flung objects in the galaxy.

The Vantablack-Coated BMW X6 Is A Road-Going Stealth Bomber

Naturally, BMW has seen fit to accent the deeply black X6 with a few jazzy extras. There are angular daytime running lights derived from the old ‘angel eyes’ concept but now designed more as hexagons with two sides missing.

On top of that there’s an illuminated grille, named the Iconic Glow kidney grille. It seems to be an LED-lit affair that, rather than choosing sheer size, takes another route towards making as many people as possible look at it. Be prepared for the need to clean it daily.

Sponsored Posts

Comments

That_1_Guy

What’s the point? The grille is 90% of the car and they didn’t make it vantablacc

08/28/2019 - 08:12 |
44 | 4
A Car Guy

Wierd flex, but ok.

08/28/2019 - 08:14 |
4 | 0
jaffakitty

mkay they made the old gran turismo paint glitch real

nice

08/28/2019 - 08:15 |
50 | 0
A Car Guy

Hey Matt, do you know why notifications have stopped working for many users using the app?

08/28/2019 - 08:15 |
6 | 0
Lord Saucius The Divine

In reply to by A Car Guy

For me, one month old notifications are now showing up

08/28/2019 - 11:57 |
4 | 0
Anonymous

This is the most stupidest thing i ever see. Imagine driving this in the night with no light on

08/28/2019 - 08:19 |
36 | 2
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

cue the Harry Potter theme

08/28/2019 - 11:38 |
18 | 2
DL🏁

“You have not yet unlocked this car”

08/28/2019 - 08:23 |
168 | 0
Ioan Johnson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬&#

Hey Matt, me and A Car Guy we’re wondering if you knew why our notifications have stopped working? A few other users have been complaining about this issue too. If you know could you please reply to one of our comments, thank you.

08/28/2019 - 08:41 |
14 | 0
Robert Gracie

Seriously if the F-117 Nighthawk had a grill like that it would not be a stealth bomber people would see it coming in and take it out of the sky….I am just saying!

08/28/2019 - 09:00 |
8 | 0

And yet it still happened (the F-117 being shot down)…

08/28/2019 - 10:40 |
6 | 0
ᴶᵘˢᵗᴬᴿᵃⁿᵈᵒá

Forget that big lumbering SUV-coupe-whatever-it-is. I wonder if they’ll make a Vantablack M8

08/28/2019 - 09:12 |
4 | 0
Anonymous

Perfect for taking out targets via ramming at night.

08/28/2019 - 09:52 |
20 | 0