As the fastest current production BMW, the BMW M8 Competition needs no introduction. As we’ve explained on this site before, the M8 Competition can run with the best of them, but offers a stately interior suitable for continent-crossing road trips at sustained triple-digit speeds. Acceleration is downright blistering, even in comparison with far more focused and specialized models that occupy the supercar and hypercar realm, and the M8 pulls it all off with a full-size trunk and all of the comforts one demands from a modern automobile, and more.
But how does it fare on the track? We’ve poured over Car and Driver‘s test results, and compared the M8 with other competitors both more expensive and more affordable, but how does the nearly 2.5-ton grand tourer stack up when its Michelin tires are pushed to their absolute limits in a track environment?
According to YouTuber Joe Achilles, the M8 Competition handles the track quite well, even though he occasionally gets a perplexed reception when the M8 shows up to an event dominated by Porsche 911 GT3s, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis. In a recent video, Achilles puts the M8 Competition through its paces around the famous Silverstone Circuit in England. BMW stressed that the 8 Series, along with the M8 and M8 Competition, were developed alongside the Daytona-winning M8 GTE race car, and in the video below, the grand touring road car’s motorsport roots are on full display.
Although not an expert driver or particularly familiar with Silverstone, Achilles records a lap time approximately 60 seconds slower than what the average 2020 Formula 1 car is capable of. Don’t get us wrong; in the world of motorsport competition, one second, let alone 60, is an eternity. When comparing a current road car to a modern F1 car though, the deficit is a lot more notable. There are also plenty of cars that are faster than the M8 Competition, but they all pale in comparison when it comes to the all-around capability of the BMW. And if you need four doors, there’s simply no better alternative than an M8 Competition in Gran Coupé form, or the venerable M5.
In the video, Achilles describes the M8 Competition as so capable, that it can do things a car of its size and footprint should not be able to. With performance within a minute of the absolute most focused racing cars ever designed, we’re inclined to agree.—Alex Tock
[Photos and video courtesy BMW AG, Joe Achilles on YouTube.]
