M5 Competition Produces Supercar-level German Power
With numbers formerly reserved for the world’s most exotic cars, the BMW M5 Competition is a proper sleeper.
In recent years, the horsepower wars have reached lofty new heights. Today, even your average minivan can dust a great number of legendary muscle cars in a drag race. All with air conditioning blasting and kids eating ice cream in the back. So when it comes to purpose-built performance cars like the new BMW M5 Competition, it takes a special kind of output to grab the attention of today’s gearheads. And it accomplishes that goal by way of a twin-turbo, 4.4-liter V8 producing 617 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque.
Impressive? No doubt. But these numbers become even more stunning when you begin to compare them to great modern supercars. The legendary McLaren F1 had 627 hp, for starters. The Porsche Carrera GT? Just 605. Heck, our favorite new performance sedan is dangerously close to even modern Ferrari 488 (660 hp) territory. And it blows away other notable performance models like the current Porsche 911 Turbo S, which sports “only” 580 hp.
All in a freaking four-door sedan, no less. But of course, the BMW M5 Competition isn’t just a regular BMW M5 with a tune. With a wider torque band, it vaults to 60 mph in a blazing 3.1-seconds. Which is bonafide supercar territory. But there are also a host of suspension tweaks underneath to ensure you can get all that power to the ground, too. They include increased camber up front, ball joints in lieu of rubber mounts, and a stiffer rear anti-roll bar. All four springs are also 10-percent stiffer than your average, run of the mill M5.
So let the rest of the world sleep on the BMW M5 Competition. Few Lamborghini and Ferrari drivers will ever think twice about this unassuming sleeper of a sedan. And you’ll likely never get tired of embarrassing them, either.
Need more of an M5 fix? Take a look at the gallery below.
