The new BMW M8 Competition wrote history when it was launched. It’s not only the first ever M8 model in the history of the BMW brand but it’s obviously also the first Competition version. Furthermore, when it was unveiled it became the fastest car BMW ever made. Those are not titles to scoff at and it’s pretty clear that BMW wanted to offer its customers a car that would blend luxury and comfort with unbelievable speed.
Has that target been achieved? Well, I haven’t had the chance to drive it yet but from what I gather from my colleagues, it’s pretty damn close. The fact that you can actually track a car of the size and luxury of the BMW M8 Competition does say a lot. The guys from sport auto took one out for a test on their usual proving grounds, the Hockenheim track. They put Uwe Sener in the driver’s seat and set him loose on the GP version of the track.
As you can see from the video below, he came back with a lap time of 1:53.1 on Pirelli P Zero tires. Now, I’m not saying the tires weren’t good enough but I would definitely like to see him do the same lap on Michelin Pilot Sport or maybe even Cup 2 tires. Nevertheless, that lap time gives us an idea as to how capable the M8 Competition is on the track. With this lap time, the Bimmer is about 4 seconds slower than a Huracan Evo and that’s a lot on a track like this. Then again, the cars operate in different worlds altogether.
The BMW also proved to be marginally faster than the considerably lighter Porsche 911 Carrera S (992), a car that I had a chance to drive and can tell you is a lot better than you’d expect. Admittedly, the M8 has a huge power advantage but being within hitting range of that Porsche is still quite an achievement. The M8 Competition also managed to beat the M2 CS, Supra and Z4 M40i by several seconds. Overall, I’d say for the size and luxury you get on the M8, this is a good result.
