On the way back from lunch at Macaroni Grill (penne rustica is heaven!), I saw a new white M5 pull up. After the customary look over, we dropped the hammer. I was blown away, it wasn't even close (from ~50mph to 90mph when I backed down).

Must've been that extra few pounds I was carrying from Macaroni Grill: The bread, the ceasar salad, the penne rustica, and lots of water.

 

400hp has its advantages.

You should feel honored to be destroyed by the best sedan on the planet.

Next time head over to your favorite road course and rip into him.

 

Check this out...Viper versus M5...M5s are "slow" off the line but smoke at highway speeds...Mpower!!!

Original Author: John Hennessey of http://www.hennesseymotorsports.com/

Wednesday, 19-Jan-2000 03:49:09

We had the opportunity to match my new M5 now with almost 2900 miles against a 450 hp Viper GTS. To reduce the drama of wheel spin, we did 3 roll on acceleration tests going from 60 to 120 mph. Figuring that the GTS would be quite a bit quicker, we decided to let the M5 make the first move then the GTS would respond and see which car was ahead and by how much by 120 mph.

Here is some wild news: On the first 2 runs, the Viper was unable to catch or pass the M5! The M5 making the
first move did have an advantage but we figured that the Viper had more than enough power to overcome. The
last run, we dropped the Viper down a gear and ran it for what we felt was its best performance. On this run, the
Viper driver was quick to react to the M5's move. Immediately the Viper jumped out by a car length or so. By
120 mph the Viper was only 1.5 car lengths ahead of the M5.

What does all of this mean? That the M5 is faster than the test numbers on it would reveal. I beleive that the M5's acceleration above 100 mph is surpassed by very few cars. Stock Viper GTS's run low 12 sec qtr mile times at over 117 mph and the M5 was running so close to the Viper it was amazing. I will be quite bold and say that from 60 to 130 mph the new M5 will outgun a majority of todays top sports cars including 996 Porsche, C5 Corvette and even the F360 Ferrari. I beleive this is true by virtue of how fast i know the Viper GTS is and how well the M5 did against it.

OK, will all of that said. We were also able to establish that on my M5 it hits the soft speed limiter at a true
ground speed of 159-160 mph. This was verified by both radar and the onboard computer.

We will keep you posted on perfomance product developments as we continue to test and stretch the M5 envelope. Have fun,

John

John Hennessey

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by fisch:
[B]shoulda ran it to like 140 - common sense usually takes over at that point and they back off - of course common sense is not a strong point w/me

next time run a 750il

 

<<shoulda ran it to like 140 - common sense usually takes over at that point and they back off >>

By 140 MPH the M5 will be far, far ahead. Loads of highway speed and up acceleration.

Stan

 

2 friends of mine both have a new M5. I won't race either one, I rode in one of them and I know it will smoke the S2000.

They said folks on the Internet are saying 0-60 in 4.6-4.7 with a properly broken in engine, the mags say 4.8.

 

Aren't those M5's still going, for like, 2 or 3 gazillion bucks above MSRP.

It should smoke an s2k.

 

Wow! Can't believe John Hennessey posts on this forum. Welcome aboard!

 

I rode in my friend's black M5 to lunch today. that car can accelerate and brake like no other sedan on the planet. He paid $90K for his. The retail price was $75K.

 

can the M5 accelerate faster than the Porsche 911 Turbos?