Following its debut at the Geneva Motor Show 2015 in March, a prototype of the 2016 BMW Alpina B6 xDrive Gran Coupe has just been filmed testing at the Nurburgring.
Although unconfirmed, it seems likely that the car is being put through its final performance tests before customer deliveries begin. While the Alpina B6 is far from a track-tuned or track-focused monster, testing at ‘Green Hell’ should help shake out any potential niggles or small faults with the car. As the following video shows, its engine certainly sounds good and the car itself looks quite poised going through the sweeping and tight corners of the German track.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZYwQR5Y_Gg[/youtube]
The body of the Alpina B6 xDrive Gran Coupe is manufactured in the BMW 6-Series factory and hand-finished with Alpina components in Buchloe, Germany. With that in mind, the four-door Gran Coupe gets a new front spoiler and fascia with a subtly-revised BMW kidney grill. A new Alpina hood also adds to the unique style while NACA air channels at the front of the underbody suck cold air into the braking system.
The B6’s 4.4 liter V8 Bi-Turbo V8 engine now delivers 600 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and maximum torque of 590 lb-ft at only 3,500 rpm. Increases of 60 hp over the 2015 model come thanks to a rework of the air intake ducting, air filter housing and fuel supply system. All this is delivered through an Alpina improved xDrive system for a 0 – 96 km/h acceleration time of just 3.6 seconds and a maximum speed of 320 km/h.
The performance is turned to the road through an Alpina Switch-Tronic 8-Speed automatic transmission provided by ZF. In ‘D’ mode the torque converter provides for smooth changes. ‘S’ mode makes changes faster and gives more direct feedback. There is a manual more which allows manual gear shifts via steering wheel buttons.
