Convertibles have a tendency to overwhelm the car’s experience with wind and exhaust noise. The more powerful the engine and the louder the exhaust, the more extreme the experience feels because none of the sensory inputs are hidden behind a roof. So what must an 800 horsepower BMW M8 Convertible feel like at speed on the Autobahn? In this new video from AutoTopNL, you get to see such a car tackle Germany’s famous unrestricted highway.
The BMW M8 is a monstrously fast car right from the factory. Even with the added weight of the convertible, the BMW M8 simply deletes sections of tarmac once you put your foot down. I promise you, no one has driven an M8 in anger and thought it was slow. However, bumping its 617 horsepower up to 800 horsepower does make a big difference and it does become quite a bit quicker.
Watching the 800 horsepower M8 Convertible drive around with the top down in this video is wild. It’s so violent and so loud that the host of the video keeps apologizing for just how obnoxious it is. He even has to turn the exhaust valves off while passing some horses because the artificial pops and bangs are so loud that they’d scare the horses. I’m all for a loud exhaust but it has to sound good, too. This doesn’t sound good, it just sounds like someone put firecrackers in a metal garbage car and duct taped it to your head. I can’t imagine anyone enjoying that on a regular basis.
The speed, however, I can see owners enjoying. BMW deserves credit for building an incredibly effective and durable engine and drivetrain. Not only can the engine handle 800 horsepower without upgraded internals but the eight-speed ZF auto and the xDrive all-wheel drive system aren’t phased by it. They can both handle the power without breaking and also put it to the wheels without any drama. It’s quite remarkable, actually, to see it accelerate as easily as the stock M8, despite having so much more power.
During the top-speed Autobahn section, the roof was up, unfortunately but I get it. It would have been interesting to see just how fast it could go with the roof down, though, and what that would have been like. However, I can imagine that it would be wildly uncomfortable to do such speeds sans roof. Still, it’s impressive just how fast the big brute is.
