Flagship cruiser

BMW now has a car to replace the outgoing i8 super sports car that has been discontinued. We drove the car late last year to find out whether it slots in the flagship role

- Yogendra Pratap

We got to drive the flagship of the BMW M range at the Los Angeles Test Drives held for the jury of the World Car Awards last year. Although BMW has launched the M8 Coupe in India, the car we drove also has Competition badging, and what that means is an extra 25bhp, a tighter chassis, a sportier suspension set-up, exclusive track mode as well as exclusive alloys. That apart, the cars are identical if you look past the price tag, though the Competition version is tuned to be louder, or at least that’s what BMW claims.

To look at, the M8 is has a pleasing sporty silhouette, a flowing roof-line, and a very well done-up rear. The front is, well, run-of-the-mill BMW M, while the sides are also not overly dramatic. The rear though has drama capped with the four large-diameter exhaust tail-pipes.