New B8 GT Is Alpina’s Most Powerful Car Ever And Last One Before BMW Takes Over

Alpina celebrates 60 years in the car game this month, and it’s doing it with an updated model, the B8 GT. Based on the BMW’s four-door 8-Series Gran Coupe and limited to just 99 units, it outmuscles the M car thanks to the most powerful engine Alpina has ever built.

The 4.4-liter bi-turbo V8, which is already fitted to the smaller B5 GT, makes 634 hp (643 PS / 466 kW), up 9 hp on the old non-GT B8, and throwing shade on the M8’s 617 hp (625 PS / 460 kW). The torque figures show an even bigger win for the Buchloe firm’s flagship: its V8 winds out 627 lb-ft (850 Nm) compared to 590 lb-ft (800 Nm) of the previous B8 and just 553 lb-ft (750 Nm) for the BMW-branded M car.

Related: Alpina B8 Gran Coupe Follows BMW 8 Series’ Footsteps With Glowing Grille

That said, the B8 is still a tenth slower than the M8 to 62 mph (100 kmh) according to Alpina’s figures, taking 3.3 seconds to do the deed, versus 3.2 seconds (while the old B8 also scored 3.3, the new one is almost a second faster to 124 mph / 200 kmh). But the M8’s advantage disappears when the traffic on the autobahn does. The M8 is limited to 155 mph (250 kmh) as standard and even the available raised limiter (a $2,500 option) only unlocks 190 mph (305 kmh). But the B8 GT keeps charging all the way to 205 mph (330 kmh), 4 mph (6 kmh) up on the old B8.

Alpina says a new centre silencer improves the V8’s sound while a tweaked transfer case sends more power to the all-wheel drive coupe’s rear wheels, which are controlled by an e-diff with new software. Those changes are said to improve agility, but since the company’s cars have long been conceived with touring in mind, and not just five-minute canyon blasts, the GT remains comfortable on longer drivers, Alpina claims.

Bespoke exterior touches marking the GT out from other 8-Series Gran Coupes include a diffuser, air ducts and dive planes all made from carbon, plus Alpina’s distinctive 21-inch forged wheels, whose centre caps aren’t cheap plastic but milled from solid pieces of aluminium.

B8 GT lettering comes standard on the door sills and B-pillars, and the optional stripes come in a relatively discrete carbon metallic. Buyers get to choose from seven paints, and 20 of the 99 cars will feature a bi-color coat combining either blue or green with black. Hmm, we’d definitely want to see one of those cars before committing to ordering our own, especially since there must be an additional cost over the already steep €225,000 ($232,000) price of a B8 GT.

An M8 GC is only $140k, remember, but then it doesn’t come with as much swanky Merino leather and two branded weekender bags, or feature a console plaque and cup-holder lid bearing the signature of Alpina founder Berkard Bovensiepen to remind you that you’re driving something a little bit special. But even Alpina’s trim team can’t do anything about the dated interior design, the creaky 8 being one of the few BMWs still using the old-style in-dash touchscreen.

BMW acquired Alpina in 2022, shortly before Bovensiepen’s death, and will take full control from the start of next year, which could make the B8 GT a collector’s item. We’re looking forward to seeing what BMW has planned for the brand in the years to come.