Testing of the new BMW M8 Coupe is under way at the Nurburgring, as you probably figure out by out sudden avalanche of articles with videos of the car from every angle. Still under camo, the M8 prototype was spotted on the Ring once again, this time during a high-performance vehicle industry pool test day. Misha Charoudin was there and he had his trusted camera with him when it happened, filming not just the M8 but some other cars as well.
Luckily for us, he had the brilliant idea of taking out his phone and starting a counter when the M8 set off, to get some kind of reading as to how fast this thing is on the famous Green Hell. So far, we know even the most modest version of the M8 will have over 600 HP. We also know it will come with all-wheel drive and share the engine with the F90 M5. Thus, this thing is bound to be fast. In Competition or even CS guise, it’s going to be even better. But just how good is it going to be?
Well, if this ‘unofficial’ lap time is anything to go by, pretty darn fast. If Misha’s lap time is remotely accurate, the M8 is in some pretty nice company. At 7:29.5 it is not far off from cars like the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT, the 2009 Nissan GT-R, or the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. The Huracan LP610-4 did the same run in 7:28 seconds while the same time is claimed by the McLaren MP4-12C. To make things even more interesting, the BMW M4 GTS did it in 7:27.88.
That’s some fast company and you need to remember that this wasn’t even an official attempt at setting a fast lap time. We don’t know how hard the driver was pushing or how the car was set up. At the same time, this is a prototype and the production version could also be slower, for various reasons. All I’m saying is, the signs are good but don’t get too excited.
