FINE DRIVING:
A RIDE IN THE 2016 BMW M6
One of the most memorable rides I have survived was with young sidecar-cross racer and seven-time British Champion Terry Good.
I was not foolish enough to take to his sidecar (many did and suffered an unscheduled bathroom break mid-lap), but I did score a ride in his then-new 635CSi. This thing had a 3.5-litre engine with 215 horsepower and a close-ratio five-speed manual gearbox. The combination was good enough to rip the CSi from rest to 100 kilometres an hour in 7.4 seconds. At the time that was truly motoring.
Sliding into the 2016 BMW M6 brought that fond memory back.
The M6’s allure surfaces the first time the gas pedal is mashed to the floor. Beneath the hood sits a divine 4.4-L, twin-turbocharged V-8. With the two turbos force-feeding the engine at full thrust and the Competition Package aboard, it produces 600 hp, 40 more hp than the normal M6.
The torque grabs the attention. With a tire-shredding 516 pound-feet available at 1,500 rpm, the M6 is like a panther ready to pounce.
The power is fired to the rear wheels and the Active M Differential (it controls the power split, left to right) through a slick seven-speed twin-clutch transmission that bumps through its gears with silky precision.
There are three settings for the “D” and “S” modes — Efficient, Comfort and Sport. When in the sportiest mode, the shifts are like lightning, which, when using the paddles, allows the engine to be pushed to within redline before initiating the shift. On the way down the gearbox, it gives easy access to engine braking.
The gearbox taps into the navigation’s data stream, meaning it proactively downshifts ahead of a corner without driver intervention. Throw in launch control and you have missile-like takeoffs.
And so to the numbers: the run from rest to 100 km/ h takes 3.9 seconds and it boasts a supremely quick 80-to-120 km/h passing time of three seconds. The M6 keeps piling on the speed in such a rapid manner it gallops from 60 to 160 km/h in less time than many sports cars can accomplish the passing move.
Now all of the aforementioned would not be worth a hill of beans were it not for the suspension’s ability to deliver unerring road manners. The adaptive dampers do a wonderful job of limiting body roll to a couple of degrees, and this is in Comfort mode. Opting for Sport or Sport+ sees the damping and steering become crisper without killing the ride comfort. It comes together so well that keeping the M6 on my intended line was remarkably easy in spite of the monster cornering forces of the P265/35R20 front and P295/30R20 rear tires. Thankfully, the oversized brakes are up to the task of scrubbing off speed.
The M6’s only real shortcoming is the back seat.
The legroom starts off as marginal and shrinks quickly with a taller driver.
Behind the briefcase storage area is a usable trunk.