The new BMW M8 Competition has 625hp from a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8.
At long last, BMW has revealed its latest and greatest in the form of the M8 Competition and M8 Competition convertible.
Also available are the lesser-fat but still-potent M8 and M8 Convertible.
For now, we’re focused on what the Bavarians call their “most powerful” M car – the M8 Competition.
The same 4.4-litre V8 sits in all four cars, but it’s been tuned higher by 25hp to 625hp in the Competition variants (there’s 600hp in the standard M8/M8 convertible).
All the power goes through BMW’s eight-speed M Steptronic transmission and out the road via BMW’s xDrive all-wheel-drive system.
The M8 Competition hits 100km/h in just 3.2 seconds (M8 Competition convertible 3.3s), while the M8 Coupe does it in 3.3 seconds (M8 convertible 3.4s), so these are definitely one of the fastest cars out there.
The V8 in the Competition variants get a special engine mounting for more rigidity. BMW says this results in “even crisper engine response” and a “positive effect” on both the immediacy of the M8 Competition’s turn-in and transmission of engine noise into the cabin.
Track use was on the top of the pecking order when developing the new M cars, BMW said.
As you’d expect, the Nurburgring in Germany formed part of BMW’s testing, as did BMW’s test track in Miramas in southern France and Arjeplog in Sweden for cold-weather testing.
One of the features that resulted from such track-oriented testing is a new braking system, an M-specific version of which gives the driver two different brake pedal feel settings.
Among the two settings, one is more comfort-oriented and the other, presumably, is the one you’d want for hardcore track action.
Carbon-ceramic brakes are available if you don’t like the standard M compound brakes.
Keeping the cars cool is an upgraded cooling system featuring an additional engine oil cooler and separate transmission oil cooler.
“The oil sump has a smaller front chamber, which steps in when extra capacity is needed. An additional suction stage allows the mapcontrolled oil pump to draw lubricant from the smaller chamber. This ensures a reliable supply of oil at all times, even under extreme lateral and longitudinal acceleration,” BMW said.
The new grand tourers get model-specific leather upholstery options, and standard features include the BMW Display Key, BMW Head-Up Display with M-specific content, Driving Assistant, Parking Assistant and BMW Live Cockpit Professional (with navigation system and BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant).
The interior of the new BMW M8 Competition.
New for the M8 is a “Setup” button on the centre console that lets the driver directly access settings for the engine, dampers, steering, M xDrive and braking system.
Another new feature is the M Mode button on the centre console, which the driver can use to adjust the driver assistance systems and the displays in the instrument cluster and Head-Up Display.
Both the M8 and M8 Competition models will debut at the #NextGen event at BMW Welt in Munich on June 25-27.
