Not that it matters really, I still want one.

“You’re either with us, or you’re with the terrorists.”
-George W. Bush

I realize that the engine in this CMC M5 is turbocharged, but the only point I’ve been trying to make the whole time is that even before one starts tuning it, it’s a very impressive engine.

It has been named the International Engine of the Year for the past 2 years, and that should probably count for something.

However, speaking of marketing ploys, I’m going to venture my opinion that the “$100,000 interior” is a hugely inflated number. The materials to do it were probably purchased at (or possibly below) whatever market value happened to be at the time. I suspect it was probably considerably less than half the $100,000 price tag. And the rest of the cost is made up of the labour. Unless there’s a jewel-encrusted centre console with solid gold cupholders, there’s no way the price tag is genuinely justifiable.

And I do have a soft spot for croc skin, but “Fully aniline dyed Florida Crocodile in black” means about as much to me as the “Rich Corinthian Leather” on the Cordoba’s advertised by Ricardo Montalban.

but anyway, I wanted to know more about this car, and found this:

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=90376

Comment by brcart3r, posted on February23 at 3:41 pm

shhhhhhhh, dont saying the bugatti had to bolt not 1 but 2 w8`s together and add 4 turbos, so in comparison a v10 with 2 turbos and 810 hp isnt too bad. im sure the bugatti can still be “tuned” though.

the new gtr will be there really fast, im sure there is a long line of tuners wauting for that one.

Is this tuned for torque or power? Because the Merc engine is primarily tuned for low-end torque (I mean, the stock version, last I checked, has more torque than any pick-up truck), and that’s what makes it so difficult to handle. I get the impression that once you’re underway (in a straight line) at more than 120mph the car behaves fairly well. And the M5, though it has 500bhp, has “only” got 383 lb-ft of torque in stock form. So if they haven’t dialed it up to an excessive extent then it might not suffer from the same problems as the Brabus.

Also, on the stock M5, you can pick whether you want the full 500 horsepower or a slightly more modest 400. So if that system is still in place (possibly expanded to offer 400, 500, and 810 settings?) the driver could, at the very least, force the car to be drivable.

As for the rear-mounted turbos, i can’t really speak to how the system works, but the reasoning behind it might have something to do with the custom intercooler. If the compressed air has to travel further to get into the engine there’s potentially more of an opportunity to bleed the heat out it. Like, if the tube along the passenger side was liquid-cooled or something. Also, it’s entirely possible that there just wasn’t any more room for them under the hood.

But if the turbos were where the silencers “once were,” does that mean the car doesn’t have silencers anymore? Because if it sounds like a race car it’s hardly a sleeper is it? And I think that’s a good chunk of the car’s appeal.

Even still, as long it doesn’t suffer from Brabusitis, I think it’s wicked awesome. Especially with the croc skin.