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

German tuners attempt to turn BMW’s super-GT into a true supercar. They may have overdone it

Published: 26 Mar 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.

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The stage 1 G-Power upgrade simply unlocks the potential of BMW’s 4.4-litre bi-turbo V8. As standard, it pumps out 612bhp, but a simple software dabble ups that to 720bhp and 627lb ft. 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 770bhp and 686lb ft. G-Power makes no mention of how the standard eight-speed automatic 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 820bhp and 727lb ft. It wasn’t so long ago that people though the world had gone mad when BMW launched a V8-powered M3 good for 414bhp. 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 820bhp, in rear-wheel drive mode.

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There’s no word on how much the G-Power tuning packs cost, nor how quickly they’ll punt the two-tonne M8 from 0-60. ‘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’. 

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