The BMW F90 M5 is capable of things nobody thought possible. For a large sedan tipping the scales at around 2 tons, this thing can move. That’s something the guys from Car and Driver found out during one of their famous instrumented tests. The figures they recorded were just too good for a car this heavy, even with 600 HP, so they decided to check out what the latest M car could do on the dyno.
The car magazine had both the M5 and M5 Competition available for testing purposes and both of them were surprisingly quick, doing 0-60 mph in about 3 seconds (faster than what BMW claims), and covering the 1/4 mile in 11-secondish. Thus, doing some quick math, this sedan definitely shouldn’t be posting these supercar numbers. Sure, all-wheel drive does contribute, a lot, to the performance increase but something was still off.
Thus the guys headed to a dyno and not just any dyno but one that could be used on all-wheel drive cars. The figures they got for the M5 Competition they brought in showed 617 HP (what BMW claims the car is making) at the wheels. Sure, modern-day transmissions are pretty efficient but still, it’s obvious that the car is making more than that at the crank. The torque figure also showed 606 lb-ft which is more than the 553 lb-ft claimed by the Bavarians.
Thus, chipping in a 10 percent transmission loss, it would be safe to assume the car is making some 670 HP and 660 lb-ft of torque at the crank, numbers a bit higher than what BMW claims. That’s nowhere near a surprise as this has become a bit of a habit these days, most car makers (German or not) understating the power outputs of their cars.
