What is it?
It’s Alpina new range-topper, in effect a BMW 7-series with a bit of extra grunt, a lot more torque, a bespoke interior and some very natty 21-inch alloy wheels that are no longer wrapped around runflat tyres.
This car is the first chance Alpina has had to tweak BMW’s 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 motor, hardly a weakling in its own right. But the revamp is a comprehensive one, even extending to different metals used in the block.
Alpina also remaps the ECU and adds a wide range of extra coolers – including four new ones behind the front valence alone – to keep the engine, intercoolers, hydraulics and transmission in check. There’s no word on the automatic gearbox’s specification, incidentally, but given the tweaked engine’s stats – 500bhp and 516lb ft – we’d be astonished if its internals were regular BMW kit.
The B7 weighs over two tonnes, so the brakes are uprated too; the spec is one often fitted to BMW’s ultra-heavy armoured vehicles.
What Alpina has really created is a rival for the Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG, a car that BMW itself seems reluctant to build. Performance is staggering, with 0-62mph in a claimed 4.7sec and a top speed – restricted, mind – of 174mph.
Full Article: Alpina B7 4.4 V8 Switch-tronic 4dr Saloon – Road Test First Drive – Autocar.co.uk
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[Source: GermanCarForum]
