The crazy G-Power BMW M8 has TWICE the power of a V8 M3

By topgear, 26 March 2020

The BMW M8: is it a GT car? Is it a supercar? Is the fastest, most expensive BMW ever made nothing more than a posher M4 with a couple more cylinders? Confusing car, the M8.

German tuners and professional lunatics G-Power have decided they know what the M8 should be: a powerhaus. A land-based road missile that could sneak up on a McLaren 720S and gobble it up in one of its big nostril grilles. Get a load of these tuning packs.

The stage 1 G-Power upgrade simply unlocks the potential of BMW’s 4.4-litre bi-turbo V8. As standard, it pumps out 620hp, but a simple software dabble ups that to 730hp and 850Nm. So already, this big bolshy barge has as much power as a McLaren 720S.

Go for G-Power’s stage 2 kit, and thanks to new downpipes and freer-flowing catalytic converters (what emissions regulations, officer?) power is lifted to 780hp and 930Nm. G-Power makes no mention of how the standard 8spd auto gearbox deals with such volcanic power. Easy does it…

But of course, the best things come in threes, and the stage 3 kit for the G-Power M8 is full of magic numbers. Stage 3 unlocks a titanium exhaust, and more boost thanks to bigger turbo compressor wheels.

As a result, G-Power is claiming this relatively ordinary-looking BMW coupe – or cabrio, if you prefer – will develop a titanic 830hp and 985Nm. It wasn’t so long ago that people though the world had gone mad when BMW launched a V8-powered M3 good for 420hp. Now this beast has twice as much poke. 

We can only assume G-Power has a sense of humour, because it’s photographed this truly bonkers car on an ice rink. Perhaps there’s a hint there of how much traction it has when you try to deploy all 830hp, in rear-wheel drive mode.

There’s no word on how much the G-Power tuning packs cost, nor how quickly they’ll punt the two-tonne M8 from 0-100. ‘Very’, one presumes. Still, if you want to be in no doubt what kind of car the confusing M8 is, give it to G-Power and they’ll turn it into ‘a scary one’. 

STORY Ollie Kew

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