With the M8 GTE set to make its competition debut at this weekend’s 24 Hours of Daytona (or the Rolex 24 at DAYTONA if you have no respect for tradition or typographical caxes), the Webasto stoves have been cranked full-blast at luxury autohaus BMW’s testing locations across Europe. Handily, they thought to take some “spy” photos of their very own and distribute them to the media.
Resplendent in gauze-dazzle vinyl sheeting, the 8-series coupe is on display here. Expect a convertible and a Gran Coupe to follow, as the 8-series will eventually supplant the 6-series in BMW’s line. (The 6-series name, meanwhile, has been applied to the replacement for the 5-series Gran Turismo.)
The camo’d coupe has been hard at work at Bridgestone’s European Proving Ground in Aprilia, Italy, about 19 miles south of Rome. BMW is using Bridgestone’s 2.49-mile oval with gnarly 37-degree banking (fearsome Daytona is only 31 degrees) for high-speed testing. They’re also making final steering, braking, and suspension calibrations. According to BMW, the new 8-series “has shown that it offers maximum agility and precision in highly dynamics [sic] situations. Likewise, the car is also able to meet the highest demands in terms of supremacy and comfort.” We’re pretty sure that’s the most German thing we’ve read since the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
The Bavarians would like you to know that even though the Nürburgring is in janky ol’ Rheinland-Pfalz, that “The Nordschleife of the legendary racing circuit is also the main proving ground for testing and further enhancing the new BMW M8.” And let’s face it, the Joe Sixpack 8-series buyer wouldn’t have a clue what the Sachsenring is. Besides, that track is in Saxony, and Biff Byford simply isn’t a German concept. The 8-series, however, moves beyond the concept stage and into showrooms later this year, after the GTE competes at Le Mans.
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