BMW Alpina B7

What do you do if you've made it big at an age too tender to be seen in a standard luxury sedan but want something more impressive than a Subaru WRX in which to haul three gearhead friends? You order a BMW Alpina B7, with a supercharged 500-horsepower V8 and all the handling capability for which BMW is justly famous.

Upside, you get all the luxury of a short-wheelbase BMW 7 Series in a track-capable sports sedan; downside you get a ride that rivals any tuner car for stiffness. Assuming you made your money at one of the Silicon Valley computer firms, the variety of technical gizmos all controlled by the iDrive will be a positive.

The important stuff about this car? A hand-built, supercharged 4.4 liter V8 that produces 500 horsepower and 506 pound-feet of torque is capable of taking the car from metering light to sixty mph in mid-five seconds. The suspension uses Sachs springs and custom-tuned Eibach shocks, coupled to BMW's high-tech Active Roll Stabilization system in place of anti-sway bars, to produce an uncanny stability in fast cornering. Braking is by BMW's largest performance brakes, with 14.7 inch front and 14.6 inch rear rotors.

Power reaches the wheels through BMW's efficient six-speed Steptronic automatic transmission, not a bragging feature according to reviewers, but certainly adequate to get the job done. For bragging rights, the car has no electronic limiter on top speeds, and has been tested to 186 mph, though the massive torque is electronically limited in the bottom two gears to avoid overwhelming the differential.

But how will everyone else know that this isn't the same 7 Series driven by the chairman of the board? If the 20-spoke 21-inch wheels with ultra-low profile Z-rated tires and low-toned exhaust from two big rear pipes don't signify, then the Alpina and B7 badges on the trunk lid under the obvious performance spoiler should beg the question that will allow you to explain.

The Alpina name, though not well-known in America, is almost a cult badge in Europe, equated with the AMG badge at Mercedes. The Alpina B7 fits into the BMW line-up to replace the no-longer-produced short-wheelbase V12-powered 7 Series, offering ultra-high performance in a high-end sedan. All engineering and engine-building is done in independent Alpina's own shops, then the B7s are assembled on BMW's own assembly lines and are fully covered by BMW warranties.

If luxury amenities actually matter, after considering the car's performance capabilities, suffice to say that nearly every option from the 750i list is standard on the B7, with only the night vision infrared display system, rear entertainment system, and active radar-controlled cruise control as additional options. Full safety features, including six front air bags, and rear-curtain head-protection airbags, are standard, of course.