Vanity Fair UK - 09.2019

Like the old friend from the Nineties

that it is, the BMW 8-Series has

returned, alongside memories of

cruising London for playmates, short

breaks in the country, and En Vogue

playing too loudly. Possibly just me,

but my goodness, everyone loved this

car first time round, and here it is

again, like all of us 20 years on and

since the advent of spin classes, a tad

grey round the temples, but fitter and

more powerful.

The 8-Series Convertible is the ideal

blend of grand-tourer space and

supercar power. In M850i guise, you get

BMW’s delectable 4.4-litre twin-turbo

V8 engine which is butter-smooth and

scorchingly fast ( 530 horsepower, feels

like more). Four seats mean you can

now take the kids on that rural

This is the Marlboro Red of the car

world. An unfiltered, uncensored,

old-fashionista, the last of a dying

breed, a guilty pleasure. It has a

massive, un-PC, naturally aspirated

V10 engine sitting in the middle of the

car for fantastic balance. Everyone else

has downsized and plonked a couple of

turbos by the engine, to make it sip fuel

a bit slower. Not so Audi. “Sod it” is the

engineering approach in a nutshell.

And God bless them for that. This is a

wonderful, free-revving Tom Petty of a

supercar. It glides, it growls, and it

vanishes at warp speed down the road.

But better than all that: it is docile

enough at low speeds to use as your

daily commuter. I know; I did just that

mini-break, and they’ll love playing

with BMW’s latest tech which

includes gesture control—circle your

finger clockwise in the air in front of

the touchscreen and the volume will

go up, for example. If one must.

Gizmos aside, this is a very

stylish flagship car from BMW,

which retains the marque’s serious

motorsport DNA in its hard steering

and swift gear changes, but blends

it with a cut-glass gear knob, a

heads-up display which projects

satnav on your windscreen, adaptive

suspension to smooth out bumps,

and BMW’s xDrive badge, which

means four-wheel drive so you

don’t need to freak out if it’s wet

or slippery outside.

Truly, this could be the best

automotive blend yet of beauty,

performance and space. Price: £104,500

for the week, plus the school run and

the supermarket. It’s a little pussycat,

with the skin of an Avenger. No one

needs to know that it acts like its distant

cousin, the Audi A3, round town: just

show them the artwork, and give them

some noise.

Inside, there is plenty of leg and

shoulder room for two large adults in

the wide seats, and Audi’s flawless

infotainment system married to a

superb Bang and Olufsen audio system.

Four-wheel drive will help you use the

620 horsepower and keep you sunny-

side-up, and on a day of blue skies and

washing-fresh air, get that roof down

and away you go. Easily the easiest

supercar of them all. Price: £149,890

This is a wonderful,

free-rev ving Tom

Petty of a supercar

G U I LT Y P L E A S U R E

The superb

free-revving new

Audi R8 is an

intoxicatingly fast,

yet docile drive

FEMININE WHEELS

Gizmos on the BMW

8-Series Convertible

include a cut-glass gear

knob (above right)

AUDI (R8); BMW (8 SERIES); MCLAREN AUTOMOTIVE (720S); © FERRARI S.P.A (PORTOFINO)

VANITY FAIR EN ROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019

Test i ng

By Er in Baker

Audi

R8 V10 SPYDER

BMW

8-SERIES CONVERTIBLE

09-19Testing.indd 32 02/07/2019 17:14

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