What happens when you pit a Dodge Challenger SRT8 against a big and heavy luxury limousine? Any rational person would bet heavily on the lighter Challenger, but there is on small exception about the nearly 4,700-pound competitor... it happens to be the Alpine B7 with a snarling V-8 under its hood. Now, that seems like a fair challenge, but that weight difference is a tough one to overcome.
So, here we have two V-8-powered cars; one is a coupe->ke141 that is built to go fast and the other is a comfortable saloon that also has a little muscle behind it. The Challenger->ke249's 6.4-liter V-8 puts out a very respectable 470 horsepower, but the 4.4-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 under the BMW Alpina B7->ke536's hood makes 540 German-engineered horsepower. Now things are looking a little better matched...
So, who wins: raw American muscle or the nearly 550-horsepower luxury rig that is at a 500-pound disadvantage? Watch the above video to find out.
Click past the jump to read more about the BMW Alpina B7->ke536
Alpina has been tuning BMWs for quite some time now, and the B7 is its current flagship sedan. The Alpina B7 is based on the F01 generation BMW 7 Series->ke323, which is where the "7" in "B7" comes from.
On the outside, the Alpina B7 may look like a normal 7 Series->ke323 but for a trained eye, the subtle body-kit, large Alpina wheels and the quad-exhausts don't go unnoticed.
Pop open the hood and that is where the magic happens. The engine is a specially tuned, 4.4-liter V8 from the M5 that carries a pair of turbo. In the B7, it puts out 540 horsepower and 538 pound-feet of torque and an eight-speed automatic transmission keeps all those horses heading to the rear wheels.
The dash from 0 to 60 mph takes just 4.6 seconds in this 4,655-pound machine. Also, this being Alpina, the B7 can go well beyond the factory 7 Series 155 mph limited top speed. In fact, this behemoth will do 194 mph.