There is something strange about this Alpina B8 Grand Coupe. Normally, there is a pretty clear line between the all-powerful M and the more B-style cruiser. But this time the roles are reversed. If you drag up to a traffic light on your own BMW M8 Great Coupé, you will make the Alpina B8 by your side month power. This is wrong.
This is not always the case. If you get a BMW M8 Competition, you will be driving a 617 horsepower car. The normal M8 conforms to a miserable 600. It is certainly unimportant next to the 612 of the B8.
Again, this is wrong. Alpinas should offer a simple distinction from the performance cars offered by BMW. BMW M cars have more power, the Alpinas settle for less power but more torque. M cars are about to hit the road. The alpines are about to drop them. Sport versus comfort. Performance versus style. Prices are not even far away. A BMW M8 Grand Coupe starts at $ 130,000. An Alpina B8 Grand Coupé has five dollars under $ 140,000 destined for it.
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Not what we get here with this Alpina. It makes too much power! It’s not even at the couple’s expense. The B8 is 590 pound-feet, while the M8 is 553, competitive or not. The Alpina and M8 use the same basic engine, BMW’s 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8, so the similarities make sense.
The way it should work is that Alpina’s car should outperform the torque, but at the expense of power. Everyone should be clear that you care more about a comfortable and safe car than any other M car. So it was with the BMW Z8, with the 400 hp engine outside the M5, and the Alpina Roadster, with a torquier melody of 375 hp one more BMW V8 pedestrian.
I had the opportunity to drive one of these Alpina Roadsters, let it run with the V8, exploding and hitting around the BMW Spartanburg test track. It was so satisfying that such a comfortable car drove so aggressively and the car had a sense of balance and understanding as understood.
The B8 should have that. Instead, it exerts too much power. But I can’t get angry about it. It is definitely a better car than the M8. I mean, look at this painting. Painting just does it.
