[hinckley]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

I tend to overthink things. I need explanations.

I’d driven a buddy’s M8 a bunch of times. I loved it. A lot. But I was never sure why. Its handling was nowhere near as nimble as my 1,300-pound-lighter, rear-engined 911 (dah). It didn’t have an MT, so I wasn’t as connected to the car as so-called purists like me like to say. But damn, it was fun to drive. So I described it as a beast. The German equivalent of an American muscle car. I don’t think my buddy liked that much.

Now I’m two days into my own M8 (since I declined to pay a $25k ADM for the privilege of waiting in an 18-month queue for another 911). Yesterday afternoon and evening I managed my first long drive. I fiddled with all the settings and really bonded with the car. And then I took off from a stop light at a liesurly-for-an-M8 pace. I wasn’t consciencely trying to accelerate hard. But then my neck snapped back, and Eureka!, I got it. Sonofabitch, it’s the transmission! I’ve been a Save The Manual guy for so long that I never took the time to even try to understand modern ATs. Sure, I knew they were really good, smooth, faster than MTs, yada, yada, yada. But at that moment, I realized that I could never drive any MT like I can drive the M8. I’d have to concentrate constantly. I’d have to rev the engine and slam the clutch on every acceleration. Over time, I’d burn-out a manual tranny trying to do what the M8’s tranny can do without breaking a sweat. Call it what you like, but I had my epiphany moment last night. Even if I eventually go back to Porsche, I’d be hard pressed now not to opt for the PDK. And I’m the last guy on the planet that anyone would expect to say that.

The M8 is a beast. In all the best ways. Crazy fun to drive. And no, it can never and will never match the handling of a 911. That’s not what this car does. It’s raw. It’s visceral. And it’s luxurious. I’m ok with all of that. Two days in and I’m hooked.

I took a few pics as the sun was rising this morning. I’m always reluctant to post here because this forum is full of great photography. But here’s the best my old iPhone can do. Aventurin Red over Midrand Beige. Beautiful imo. Btw, I opted for traditional Roundels and black calipers. Still an old-school guy at heart.

[Seaford]

The eight speed bmw box is a thing of beauty. Been superb in the three BMWs I have owned.

[Tenac]

Exactly!

[m3_08]

very classy. enjoy.

[spadman]

I really like the color combo..Congrats!

[Ben_K]

Hinckley,
You are seriously teasing my right now. My M8 is in the middle of the Atlantic right now, nonstop to Galveston. I am really looking forward to this car.

[Ghostrider641]

Nice….

Is it just me, or would that machine look much nicer without the rear seats being installed? I’m thinking…hmmmm

[germanroots]

@hinckley That Midrand looks amazing…you just made me very happy that I ordered the same. Enjoy your new ride!

[downeykp]

Nice write up. Agree with everything you said.
Did break in service a couple of weeks ago and went for a drive on a twisty hilly part of the Big Island. Because of how quick the AWD system works especially the fronts. I really did not find oversteer or understeer. If car started to push I just hit the loud pedal and it went where I pointed it. I even got a bit of air and suspension handled it perfectly.
I also really love the grippyness of the P Zeros. I also know that they wear out somewhat fast. Michelins seem to be the tire of choice but they will not be as sticky right?

Congrats on the new car and welcome.

[bloozemanAZ]

Congrats and as sacrilegious as it may sound if I could fit into a 911 it would be PDK all the way. The ZF transmission in the 8 series is a beast but from my understanding PDK is even better as it's a dual-clutch. Crammed myself into a 991 a few years back with a PDK just for a test drive but of course in that scenario might as well been in a Honda Accord as no way to flex the performance of the car. It was more about whether I could fit or not.

Aventurin Red is an absolute sleeper of a gorgeous 8 Series color. Midrange was my color choice as well for the interior. The wife nixed it as she didn't like the Aventurin and as they say a happy wife equals a happy life so sadly had to pick a different exterior but that opened up Fiona/Sakhir and Tanzanite.

Enjoy the drive!

[hersh67]

Great pics and review. May i suggest upgrading your iPhone now.

[hinckley]

Originally Posted by hersh67

Great pics and review. May i suggest upgrading your iPhone now.

Yes! Sitting on my hands right now waiting for September and the iPhone 14. The wait is killing me.

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by hinckley

Yes! Sitting on my hands right now waiting for September and the iPhone 14. The wait is killing me.

Go bold and get a Pixel 6 Pro now and never look back. I live in both worlds with an iPhone 13 Pro Max my company provided and a Google Pixel 6 Pro. The Pixel camera smokes the 13. The Pixel 7 will ramp that up a notch and do the same against the 14.

It's the AI/ML software technology in the Pixel more so than just the physical camera lenses, etc. Basically, it is Google Glass technology built in for accurate color, contrast, etc. vs iOS' over staturated, filters, etc. built for the "influencers".

BTW this is totally agnostic advice vs a fan boy as I live in all worlds with OSX driving my home theater via a customized Mac Mini, a MBP for all my home studio music recording and editing along with Windows 10/11 for my business world. Plus the cell phones.

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by hinckley

I tend to overthink things. I need explanations.


I took a few pics as the sun was rising this morning. I’m always reluctant to post here because this forum is full of great photography. But here’s the best my old iPhone can do. Aventurin Red over Midrand Beige. Beautiful imo. Btw, I opted for traditional Roundels and black calipers. Still an old-school guy at heart.

FU#K!

Nice car man.

My friend got an Aventurine M550 back when I had my M5. It's awesome in person. He did it with cognac interior. Killer.


I was going to go Aventurine next time, but then my Carbon Black M850 popped up, so that's what I have now.

Go ahead, take more pictures. You can always take more when the new phone is in.

Enjoy.

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by snowbimmer

Go ahead, take more pictures. You can always take more when the new phone is in.

Agreed as I for one would appreciate more myself. Heck unless someone has a digital SLR or pays for a professional photo shoot (in which a digital SLR will be used) who cares what the camera is. We're all here to share the passion of the 8-series vs color, contrast, etc. accurate photos.

[Opie55]

That's a pretty car.

[hinckley]

Originally Posted by snowbimmer

Go ahead, take more pictures. You can always take more when the new phone is in.

Originally Posted by bloozemanAZ

Agreed as I for one would appreciate more myself.

Thank you everyone. At the risk of greatly overdoing things, here's a few more pics from this morning . . .

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by hinckley

Thank you everyone. At the risk of greatly overdoing things, here's a few more pics from this morning . . .

Thanks for the pics and no worries on overdoing anything in regard to an absolutely gorgeous M8 convertible! Now again if you SPAM the forum with pics of the dog in the car, your windshield sun visor along with box of Kleenex and microfiber cloth (have all 3 in my backseat as that's about as useful they are) we'll have to talk. 🤣

[hinckley]

Originally Posted by bloozemanAZ

Thanks for the pics and no worries on overdoing anything in regard to an absolutely gorgeous M8 convertible! Now again if you SPAM the forum with pics of the dog in the car, your windshield sun visor along with box of Kleenex and microfiber cloth (have all 3 in my backseat as that's about as useful they are) we'll have to talk. 🤣

Thanks, but done now!

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by hinckley

Thanks, but done now!

Since tomorrow is a holiday, we'll expect a few more.

[Ben_K]

Originally Posted by Ghostrider641

Nice….

Is it just me, or would that machine look much nicer without the rear seats being installed? I’m thinking…hmmmm

Ghostrider, we have a personal preference thing. I ordered mine because of the back seat. We can continue to discuss the differences. I actually passed on a Mercedes SL 63 because of the nearly nothing back seat.

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by Ghostrider641

Nice….

Is it just me, or would that machine look much nicer without the rear seats being installed? I’m thinking…hmmmm

Interesting as mostly for the 8-series convertibles the comments and associated attempts has been regarding removing the rear seat headrests for a cleaner look. Bottom line is the rear seats on the coupe or convertible are for the most part useless.