The guys from BMW UK seem to be the first to introduce the brand new 8 Series to the audience with a video. Their Youtube channel has a beautiful presentation clip of the car, showcasing exactly the kind of people BMW is targeting with the new 8er, and how it plans to seduce everyone in the process. As you probably already saw, the new 8 Series will most likely battle not only the S-Class but also a very well known British brand.
I’m referring to Aston Martin, of course, a brand that is perceived as exclusive by many and which has had its share of ups and downs recently. Nevertheless, the winged logo is still powerful in the automotive world and, even though they too had to drop their V12 engines for turbocharged V8 ones, the Aston Martin brand is still desirable. At the moment, the pricing for the 8 Series is not available but considering what we’ve seen this weekend, it’s definitely not going to be cheap, probably placing it within hitting range of the British brand.
Therefore, some customers might actually be cross-shopping the two and the decision isn’t easy. The new 8 Series Coupe brings a whole new interior to the game and a brand new interpretation of what a luxurious GT should look like from the outside. Since we’re going to compare it with the V8 DB11, the only car that could match up from the 8 Series line-up will be the M850i xDrive and that’s good news for the Bavarians.
In the specs department the German has the edge, with the M850i using the latest iteration of the N63 4.4-liter V8 tuned to make 530 HP and 553 lb-ft (750 lb-ft) of torque, which is marginally higher than the Aston. In the sprint department, the BMW leads as well, being 0.3 seconds faster to 100 km/h (62 mph). All that remains to be seen now is how they compare in terms of handling, which will surely be a heated debate once comparative tests kick off.
