Most people don’t know what an Alpina is, but the 2015 BMW Alpina B6 is a display of craftsmanship and sports performance. Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH was founded in 1965 as a company that prepared or tuned BMWs for racing series. Alpina did very well with wins in the European Touring Car Championship, hill climbs, rallies, and Spa 24 Hours racing. The company slowly transitioned making and selling souped up BMWs for the road.
There were 1975 BMW 320 Alpina A1, 1978 BMW 528i Alpina B7, 1978 BMW 630 CSi Alpina B7, and on, and on. Alpina processes have been integrated further with BMW’s over the years. Alpina models are now manufactured at the BMW factory along-side with other BMWs. Thus Alpina is considered an automotive manufacturer and not an aftermarket tuner.
The number of this 2015 Alpina B6 are staggering. The 4.4L twin-turbo V8 makes 540 horsepower @ 5,200 rpm and 540 lb-ft of torque @ 2,800 rpm. The four-door Gran Coupe weighs around 4,122 lbs. It’s backed up by an Alpina updated 8-speed ZF automatic transmission. The power is routed to all four wheels via xDrive system. Alpina claims a 3.7 second 0-60 mph and a top speed of 197.6 mph.
TFLcar wanted to find out exactly what numbers the B6 can lay down on our test track. IndyCar racer – Justin Wilson – was the pilot for the test, as we looked for a track record.
Andre Smirnov is a life-long automotive enthusiast, writer, reporter, and software engineer. He has been writing and reporting at TFL since 2011.
