M8 Gran Coupe

Make
BMW
Segment
Sedan

Mercedes is currently riding a wave of success having just taken Porsche's record at the Nurburgring with its AMG GT 63 S 4-door. The Merc-AMG GT Black Series also just smashed a record to become the new king of the Ring. While BMW has never been all that big on setting records at the Green Hell, the new M5 CS seems to be chasing just such a thing. But how does Merc's record-holding luxury four-door stack up against the M8 Competition Gran Coupe from Munich? They both fall into the same sort of bracket, so which luxury German automaker is quickest?

First off, let's have a quick recap of the output of each model. The Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S 4-door wins the title of the most cumbersome name for a car ever, although not by much. Under its hood lies a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 developing a whopping 630 horsepower and 664 lb-ft of torque. a rear-biased AWD system delivers power to the ground, just as a similar system does the business in the BMW M8 Competition Gran Coupe. The Bimmer also has a twin-turbo'd V8, but this one is 4.4 liters of Bavarian brilliance. However, despite more capacity, the M8 only produces 617 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque. We really are spoilt these days when a car producing more than double the output of a Ferrari 308 is considered underpowered.

Unfortunately for BMW fanboys, the shorter gear ratios of the Merc's nine-speed auto and its marginally lower curb weight contribute to it being quicker in every respect. The quarter-mile for the Bimmer and the Merc are dispatched in 10.95 and 10.78 seconds respectively, while getting to 155 mph takes the M8 Comp 17.9 seconds. The GT 63 S manages this in 17.55. BMW owners can, however, take solace in the fact that the two cars very close, as well as the fact that the Bimmer is considerably cheaper by over 10 grand. It's speedometer also seems more accurate. But which would you choose? For us, both are brilliant, so can we remain neutral on this one?