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Originally Posted by JNoSol
Not many people who would buy a 7 series to compare performance spec. It's a highway cruiser. I had a 750Li, I just loved the road presence and the V8. It handled great for a big car.
Audi's S8 Plus will be at 605HP. BMW Alpina B7 has 600HP and weigh about the same as the S8 Plus. BMW xDrive is actually superior compared to Audi's outdated Quattro (for handling). BMW is near 50/50 balance while Audis struggle being front heavy. Audis tend to understeer vs BMWs oversteer (more desirable to oversteer). Don't be so sure yet that Audi S8 Plus is the faster/better/more fun to drive car.
Example: My X5M on paper, seems like it would be slower than a $175k Porsche Cayenne Turbo S. But it's not... 
Last thing to consider, the Alpina cars are rare. It would be a collectible worth good money if you hang on to it. Not sure if any Audi S8 will be a collectible's item. |
Valid points (especially regarding steering of the Audi). Fair enough.
Nevertheless, I would never consider Alpina to be a performance marque of BMW though. That title belongs to the M Division.
Alpina looks like some poser/aftermarket firm (even though they are built directly at BMW factories in Dingolfing). No brand prestige or brand affiliation that identifies themselves as premium performance (e.g. in the way AMG, Quattro S/RS, Jaguar Land Rover SVR identify themselves as a performance brand).
Alpina cars look like bling machines instead of premium performance stock configuration vehicles.
Oh and this
760Li M-Sport would have been a much better competitor
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Audis lease prices are always garbage compared to a comparably priced BMW as well. Really wouldn't want to buy one of these cars with the piss poor reliability these boosted engines are showing lately, so the lease price weighs in heavily to me. Even if the performance is better in the S8, I'd take the looks, interior, and net cost of the B7.
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Well we can also say the same thing about poor reliability of certain BMW cars as well *cough*N63*cough*.
So it goes either way as well.
In any case, for me, the Alpina B7 is irrelevant. Only a *true* M7 would be the performance variant of the brand. Otherwise, that title goes to the 760Li M-Sport
760Li M-Sport >>>> Alpina B7