Ring in the New Year, German Tuner Style

In case you weren't aware, the Germans are in the midst of a horsepower war. Mercedes, BMW and Audi have been one-upping each other for the last few years trying to take the title of Pferdestärken König.

Mercedes has technically taken the title with the 600hp+ twin turbo V12-engined monster, the SL65 AMG. But the mad Merc's power is really only good for shredding tires. Audi's RS4 and R8 feature one of the most amazing V8 engines to ever grace the planet but are still just a touch on the under-powered side at a paltry 420hp. BMW has the insane F1 derived 500hp+ V10s in the M5 and M6 making them probably the best all round sedan and GT cars (at least of the Germans).

The Germans are now where America was in the 60's, these ARE modern muscle cars. They all started out using technology to squeeze as much horsepower out of there existing "standard" engines. But now it's descended into a displacement war. It's really Mercedes that started the big bore battle with there huge 6.2litre V8s. Just like the American Muscle Car era there are some insane German "tuners" out there. The difference is that these guys charge 100K+ for their upgrades.

Look at this insane M5 upgrade. The first scary thing is the price, $130,000 plus the cost of an M5. The second scary thing is that it makes 730hp with the twin superchargers only running at 0.5bar of pressure. Can you imagine the kind of power you'd get out of twin turbos running modest boost like 5 psi? I'm glad the Germans are on our side now.