Some car enthusiasts pine for the good old days. Others appreciate the higher-than-ever performance and technology of today. One thing is certain, though, we are living in the golden age of easy horsepower. Never before have owners been able to tune their cars to absolutely wacky power figures with so few upgrades. The perfect example is the new BMW M5, with its hybrid V-8 powertrain, that German tuner G-Power just cranked to 999 horsepower with nothing but bolt-ons and a software tune.
I remember when the Bugatti Veyron came out, with 1001 horsepower from a quad-turbo W-16 engine. It needed all of that engineering might to make 1000 horsepower in a million-dollar hypercar. This M5 does it with an off-the-shelf V-8 and some hybrid bits. OK, so BMW’s S63 twin-turbocharged V-8 ain’t some slouch right out of the box. When paired with its electric motor, the M5 already makes 717 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque. A figure that’s nutty without any upgrades.
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However, G-Power would go out of business if it felt that was enough. So it took to figuring out a tune for BMW’s go-fast sedan/wagon and, interestingly, it doesn’t touch the electric motor. All of G-Power’s upgrades are for the V-8. The full $41,160 kit brings an Evneturi carbon fiber air intake, upgraded intercoolers, G-Power 200-cell downpipes, a Deeptone exhaust, and a software tune. That’s it. Nothing you couldn’t upgrade on your own in a weekend or two. And that full kit brings 999 horsepower, while eliminating the 155 mph top speed limiter.
If you don’t want to spend nearly the same as a 3 Series on the full-fat tuning package, G-Power will sell you just the tune, which bumps power to a very healthy 838 horsepower. At that point, though, why not bump up to the triple nines?
G-Power didn’t say how fast the M5 is with the new tune, but it’s bound to be much faster than the stock car’s 3.5-second 0-60 mph time. The package is available on either the sedan or the wagon, so you can have a luxury wagon with seating for five and space for your dog in the trunk, while packing Bugatti Veyron power. See, the golden age of power.
