Hear the BMW 8 Series Coupe Zip Through the Winding Roads of Wales

BMW will debut the production 8 Series Coupe on June 15 a day before the start of Le Mans. Until then, this video gives us a better indication of what to expect from the new two-door.

Engineers at BMW have been testing the coupe on winding back roads throughout Wales. In this video posted by BMW on YouTube recently, we can hear a little bit of the car’s exhaust note as it roams the country.

“The trick is to offer maximum driving pleasure with a given suitability for everyday use,” Markus Flasch, project leader for the BMW 8 Series, says in the video. Later, we encounter Jos Van As, head of application chassis, who points out the car’s optional active roll stabilization and standard all-wheel steering. Although BMW has the interior mostly covered up, we can see a bit of the car’s digital instrument cluster in these scenes. Finally, BMW introduces us to Christian Billig, head of drivetrain integration, as he talks about the car’s new V-8 engine.

Under the hood, the BMW M850i xDrive coupe packs a 4.4-liter V-8 making 530 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque. The engine is paired to a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission. When we drove a prototype version, we praised its smooth shifting and ample power on demand, although brake feel could use a little bit of improvement. We’ll have to wait to drive the production version to see if BMW has made any changes.

BMW will have at least six models in the 8 Series range. Along with the production 8 Series coupe shown here, we can also expect an 8 Series convertible, an M8 Gran Coupe, and 8 Series Gran Coupe. The Gran Coupe models will be shown in production form next year.

Source: BMW via YouTube