Hurricane whips up 360km/h gust

The fastest street-legal BMW on the planet isn't the M3, M5 or M6... or even something turned out by celebrated Bimmer tweaker Alpina.

No, the fastest Bavarian bombshell is the ominously named G-Power Hurricane, a twin-supercharged M5-based projectile that was recently clocked at 360km/h on Germany's Papenburg speed bowl.

The heart of the Hurricane is a 5.0-litre V10 engine that's bolstered by a G-Power Evo II supercharging system. The result is a towering 537.5kW -- a sizeable 164kW hike over the donor M5 motor -- while peak torque rises to a monstrous 700Nm (compared with 520Nm for the standard M5).

Interestingly, the supercharging system uses one belt-driven ASA T1-12 compressor for each cylinder bank. Contrary to conventional mechanical chargers that waste a large portion of the additional power on being driven themselves, the ASA compressor has, according to G-Power, an efficiency rate of up to 80 per cent.

The ASA charger (which spins at up to 100,000rpm and is limited to a maximum 0.5 bar boost) is also very compact, which allows G-Power to install two of them in the tight confines of the M5 engine bay.

To enable the engine to cope with higher stresses and engine speeds, the V10 scores lightweight, precision-matched high-performance forged pistons from technology partner Mahle.

The results are hardly surprising. G-Power quotes zero to 100km/h in 4.2sec, which is "only" half a second quicker than the M5 stocker - but from this point on, the Hurricane leaves the latter dithering in its wake.

The Hurricane storms to 200km/h in 10sec, a clear 5sec ahead of the M5 and, according to its maker, shatters the 300km/h mark in less than 29.5 seconds. Unlike the standard car (which is limited to 250km/h), the G-Power isn't speed restricted.

Aero efficiency is obviously paramount given the warp speeds the Hurricane cruises at, so it sports a bespoke carbon fibre front apron (with large air inlets to supply ample cooling air for radiators and front brakes).

Lift on the rear axle is said to be reduced by a bootlid spoiler and carbon fibre rear diffuser, while the rocker panels on the flanks are claimed to smooth the airflow between the wheel houses and make the M5 look longer, lower and sleeker.

The stunning multi-spoke rims are 21-inchers, shod with Dunlop 255/30 ZR 21 rubber at the front and 295/25 ZR 21 gumballs at the rear. The uprated braking package includes 400 x 36mm discs at the front with six-piston fixed calipers

The suspension is beefed up via height-adjustable G-Power coil-over suspension with nine selectable settings each for bound and rebound. Meanwhile, the cabin gains niceties such as a Nardo Edition sport steering wheel covered in perforated Nappa leather -- and there's also a speedo that's calibrated to 400km/h!

The folks at G-Power would be happy to sell you a Hurricane as a complete car for a piffling $392,300, or you could simply have them fit the G-Power twin-compressor system to your M5 for a mere $145,500 -- the price includes all necessary modifications to suspension, brakes and wheels.

Any takers?

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