The big news is that the recently announced 2015 BMW X6 M might be as fast around the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife as an M3. How is this possible?
Well first of all, the M3 in question is the E92 M3, the immediate predecessor to the current 2015 F80 BMW M3. Still, the last of the two-door M3s was a pretty quick ride. With 414 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque from its normally aspirated four-liter V8 mated to a six-speed manual gearbox, the 3,500-pound car would do the zero-to-60 dance in 4.3 seconds; and even faster with an M-DCT transmission. It’s no wonder an accomplished driver could lap the Nordschleife in close to eight minutes—8:05 to be exact, according to the German web site Sport Auto.
But what about the just-launched 2015 X6 M Sport Activity Coupe. Like the E92 M3, it has a V8 engine, and four wheels, and M badges, but the similarities end there, except for the speed. The X6 M is pushed by a twin-turbo V8 capable of 567 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque. Zero-to-60 time is four seconds using the eight-speed M Steptronic transmission. Despite weighing two and a half tons (empty), BMW has ponied up the power to make this beast—ungainly to some; beautiful to others—a really fast car…or truck…or something.
So where did anyone get the idea that the new X6 M could lap the ‘Ring as fast as an E92 M3? Apparently, it came from someone who should know. Sport Auto claims that BMW M project manager Herbert Bayerl told them that the X6 M was as fast on the Nürburgring as the V8 M3, and Sport Auto had lapped the Nordschleife in an E92 in 8:05, so therefore, that must be what the X6 M could do.
If the 8:05 time is accurate, that means the X6 M could beat the current Nordschleife SUV record holder—the Range Rover Sport SVR—by about 9 seconds. However, BMW M is not planning to attempt a record-setting lap.
“We leave it to you,” said Herr Bayerl.
Other than the one-off BMW X5 LMR of about fifteen years ago, BMW X vehicles have not been the darlings of the track crowd, except as tow vehicles. Perhaps the X6 M might change a mind or two—if anyone lets it on the track.—Scott Blazey
