72 MODERNCLASSICS
HEAD TO HEAD
is for. Switching to the firmer
Electronic Damper Control modes
doesn’t f lummox it either. In its
firmest setting it’s understandably
crashy, but still surprisingly capable.
However, this North Yorkshire road
was resurfaced two years ago, and it’s
still very smooth. Since the test I’ve
borrowed an M6 and taken it down a
regular A-road... I’m still not sure my
kidneys have forgiven me. I’m sure
there’s a wonderful set-up just for me,
but hunting for it means taking your
eyes off the road.
You really don’t want to be doing
that. Not with 500bhp lurking just a
toe-prod away. This car isn’t just fast,
it’s more otherworldly than that – the
only thing that can match the
rampant rate at which big numbers
appear is the width of your eyes as you
encroach on 8250rpm. BMW slapped
a 155mph limit on it, but with the
restrictions taken off this is a 205mph
car – and the way it pulls all the way
to the redline makes it easy to believe.
Asyoulightuptheyellowand
orangelightsontherevcounterthe
S85 howlslikea hornywolf,tearing
intoyourearslikeyou’restoodnextto
a bass bin at an illegal rave. It’s the
kind of all-consuming sound that you
can feel deep in the centre of your
brain. Pulse-raising? You bet.
There is a caveat, though. The M6
only unleashes such goods at a fairly
lofty 5000rpm, and ‘only’ 383lb-ft,
which means keeping it on the boil for
those big-lunged overtakes.
That’s more of an issue than it at
first seems. In sixth at naughty speeds
the M6 is quiet – perhaps a little too
quiet. Stirring the pot means dropping
two cogs, compressing your spinal
cord and troubling your neck muscles
- and risking waking the dead as all
ten cylinders get excited. While
amusing at first, by the end of a 300-
mile trip you might be wishing for the
effortless heave of something with
more low-down thump. And a cushion.
Slackening off the gearbox’s
severity doesn’t make that much
difference; full auto mode is a bit like
sitting on a malfunctioning washing
machine. Best to leave it in manual
mode,as thatmeansyoucanreally
enjoytheM6’spartypiece.
Forsucha big,heavycar,theM 6
cornerswithalmostM3-like
’THEALPINA LOOKSLIKE
IT ’SBEEN MAINLINING
STEROIDS THROUGH THE
DUCTS ON ITS BONNET’
WHEREIT ALLBEGAN:THEZ9
TheE63’sdistinctive
lo okscanbe traced
ba ck to the Chris
Bangle-designed Z9
concept cars – revealed
in four-seat coupe form
at the 1999 Frankfurt
Auto Show, while the
2000 Paris Auto Show
saw the convertible
version unveiled.
The body was made
from carbon-fibre
over an aluminium
spaceframe, while the
doors opened in a
choice of two ways;
in the conventional
manner,andas a
gullwing.
Theinteriorhelped
previewforthcoming
iD rivetechnology,with
a ve ry similarcontrol
interface. The interior
was designed to be as
simple as possible – the
speedo and tacho were
on a monitor, while just
a light switch and start
button were on the
dash. The engine was
about as far away from
the M6 V10 as possible
- a V8 turbodiesel
from an E38 7 Series.
It developed 245bhp
and 413lb-ft.
Many of the Z9’s
design cues were
advancedto theE63,
th oughAdrianvan
Hooydonkis credited
wi th theE63’sfinalform.
BMWM6
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