Welcome aboard the probably most expensive and most powerful car BMW has in its range.
This is the BMW M8 Gran Coupé. Or rather, the BMW M8 Competition Gran Coupé, because 600 horsepower is childs play nowadays.
Of course, you immediately get the Competition Pack. That means this car produces 625 horsepower. 625. That used to be hypercar...
territory not too long ago. That's why it probably won't come as a surprise to you that if you put your foot down for the first time...
You'll be sweating with fear. This car is disgustingly fast. It produces 625 horsepower and 750 Nm of torque. It's almost like you're being...
fired from a cannon. And it doesn't stop accelerating. Especially if you get the M-Drivers-package. That's optional, but it'll allow you to drive...
305 km/h. Those are very impressing numbers if you consider that this car is five metres long and weighs almost 2.000 kg.
They've added about €50.000 to the cost of a regular M850i Gran Coupé, so it's got 95 additional horsepower, stiffer springs and dampers,
different bearing arms, it's so much more now. It's a real M as well, so there's a lot to expect.
You expect ultimate sharpness, circuit performance, because that's what M used to be all about. The M of Motorsport. And this is supposed to have...
And what I said still goes. When you get in for the first time, it's a lot to take in at first.
It's got four-wheel drive, but if you put that in M-Sport-mode to send more of the power to the back,
you can feel it just kicking off. It's crazy fast. There's lots of traction, lots of grip, it's just so incredibly impressive.
It's a shock-and-awe on wheels, really. But when the first crushing impressive has worn off a little and you start thinking it true...
I'm not going to say it's a bad car, not at all, but it doesn't seem right. As I said, it costs €50.000 more than a M850i,
and a lot of things have been changed. However, they've removed the four-wheel steering for example. BMW says they've done that...
because it's an M. It should be puristic and analogue, only aimed at performance.
But it's still a car which weighs two tonnes, and you want to get corners really fast with it. That means you're obligated to get...
incredibly sturdy springs and damping, which is even more extensive for the Competition than for the 'regular' M8.
That means you've got a car which can do a whole lot of things, but a car which isn't incredibly comfortable.
Especially for such a big car. At the same time, you can feel really well that it's a very heavy car.
The incredibly heavy V8 in the nose would love to keep on going straight ahead, but it's strangled into cornering because of the wide...
tires and the negative camber. All of the technology forces the car to corner. But the way an M4 shrinks around you on a desolated...
mountain road like this, just doesn't happen with this car. It's very impressive, but it never feels intuitive or puristic.
It's too big, too heavy, too lumpy. Also, the engine doesn't sound impressive enough for an M-car. M-Performance, sure, but not an M.
You'd expect more of that. The automatic gearbox is incredibly good, don't get me wrong, but it's just not worth an additional €50.000.
I believe you if you say that it's faster on a track, because you can also get ceramic brakes as an option,
but on public roads? I mean, the limiting factor usually is your common sense there, and it's not because of the problem of the material.
I can't really say it's better or more fun than an M850i. I'm not having more fun right now. And that's not the only problem here.
If you start thinking about it, this is a very big, very heavy car with too much power for your common sense. So actually,
this is an AMG.
That is a problem, because AMG has their own version of this car. The AMG GT 4-Door 63S. It has four doors, it has a V8, and it has...
more than 600 horsepower. Better still, it even has more horsepower than the BMW M8.
639 horsepower to be precise. This is the Mercedes-AMG GT 4-door 63S. Additionally, it has 900 Nm of torque.
So if you thought the 4.4-litre in the BMW was fast, just think of this engine in the mid-range...
This is mighty. Like only an AMG can be. And then there's the 4.0-litre V8, and that's what AMG does best: it's spectacular.
Sure, they've tweaked it, just like the BMW, so it's about as real as an action movie from the nineties. But it sounds so incredibly good.
And if you let go of the throttle, explosions chase you from the back. It just breathes excitement.
The engine is connected to a 9-speed automatic gearbox, in which they've replaced the torque converter with an additional clutch.
It's a tad less sharp than the gearbox in the BMW, but what do you even care with your 900 Nm of torque?
On a road like this, you can keep it in one gear and you'll be alright. And it's this drivetrain that makes this car such a delight to drive.
The throttle response is so incredibly fast. It's filthy like only an AMG can be. And that's where AMG takes the lead.
But what really makes it special, is that AMG has a much clearer view of what they want with this car.
The M8 is hovering between a sports car and a Gran Turismo, but AMG clearly accepted the fact that it was five metres long...
and that it weighed 2.000 kg. It's never going to be a super-hard sports car. If you want that, get yourself a C63 AMG. Or a Porsche.
No, Mercedes has aimed at a great driving experience, which is comfortable at the same time.
That's why this car has air suspension, and four-wheel steering. I think that the M8 is faster on a track with incredibly smooth tarmac,
but on a road like this? When you're misbehaving a little? This doesn't feel slower at all. Better yet, because of the four-wheel steering,
the heavy nose corners a tad more easily. This car has four-wheel drive as well, in which most of the power is sent to the back.
You can feel the limited-slip differential steering the rear. Just like in the BMW, you can turn it off, so you can put it in Drift-mode.
You'll use it once, be scarred for life and you'll never turn it on again. But hey, it's possible.
But at the same time, you're able to put this car in Comfort-mode whenever you're done misbehaving.
Because of the air suspension, this car becomes comfortable again. It won't become less sturdy, like the BMW.
That makes this more of an allrounder. In its fibres it's an AMG, it's shamelessly exaggerated, but in the end of the day it can...
be comfortable. It doesn't try to be two things. And it's the same on the inside.
You can recognize this interior as an Mercedes-interior, but it's especially for this particular car. The M8-interior...
is pretty much the same as in the 5-series, the 3-series and the 1-series. This just feels more special. And that's something you should be able...
to expect from a car which is over €200.000. This is even more expensive, but that gives you a car that easily surpasses 300 km/h.
And it just feels more like the shameless exaggeration it tries to be. Having said that, the best AMG is still found at AMG.