Evolve M6s A brace of stunning Coupés with over 730hp. Take a brace of M6s, inject them with serious power and you have two of the fastest-ever BMWs.
It’s probably fair to say I’m not a morning person. I don’t generally jump out of bed when the alarm clock interrups my slumber full of beans and raring to go… I usually require a healthy dose of coffee beans to kick start my morning. And my excuse for still feeling a little bleary-eyed on the morning I sallied forth to Evolve’s Luton HQ to sample this pair of delectable M6s was that I didn’t manage to have my early-morning caffeine kick. To escape London of a morning you really need to be on the outskirts of town by the time the bus lanes start at 7am and given that I live on the south side of the capital it means quite an early start to get to the top of north London before those bus lanes effectively half the carrying capacity of the roads.
Inevitably I arrive in Luton too early but this does give me a chance to grab a cup of coffee and to have a look around the area for a suitable photoshoot location, sadly coming up with a blank on the latter task. Pulling up at Evolve and seeing the stunning Signal green M6 Coupé emerging freshly valeted from the workshop helps to complete my waking up process – it’s simply sensational to behold in the metal and despite the dull and overcast day this machine really brightens up my day. Normally the sight of a fully-tricked up M6 Gran Coupé would be grabbing my attention but the equally-special fourdoor that’s already waiting outside Evolve’s unit has to play second fiddle to the Signal green Coupé.
Once pleasantries have been exchanged we decide to hit the road and we do make a slightly incongruous-looking convoy. A Signal green M6 Coupé followed by the San Marino blue Gran Coupé with our photographic SEAT estate manfully attempting (and failing) to keep pace with the two big bruisers. While we’re only trickling out of town the brace of M6s are making all the right sort of rumbling V8 noises that signify that this is going to be a good day. The chance to sample one fettled M6 is too good to pass up, but two on the same day? That’s a rare treat.
We don’t have too far to go to get to just about the only spot I’ve found that’s big enough to accommodate two cars without us being chased off by some over-officious job’s worth but we trickle along with the big Sixes at barely more than a tick over so they don’t get covered in a film of road grime – cleaning cars repeatedly when it’s this damp and cold is no fun at all! With the cars in position and snapper Richardson happy in his work I leave him to snap away while I chat to Evolve’s Aston Coffill about what’s been done to these two monsters.
We start with the Signal green M6 – it would be impossible not to – and I discover that as far as the owner of the car is aware it’s the only M6 Coupé in the world in this colour. In fact, it turns out we’ve already featured one of his cars before, a black M6 Coupé that was also fettled by Evolve, and when it came to replacing it he knew it could only be another M6… but this time he thought he’d like to stand out from the crowd a little. Thus we have the stunning colour, courtesy of BMW Individual, while inside there’s an Individual interior with black leather covering every available surface with some discreet but very classy Signal green stitching. It really works perfectly together and after having sampled the cockpit briefly I can say that it really engenders the car with a feel-good factor before you even consider the performance enhancements or exterior embellishments.
And there are plenty of those. The bodywork is punctuated by some seriously sexy carbon fibre kit – all courtesy of Vorsteiner – and as you can see from the spec panel they’re not cheap, but quality components never are. At the front there’s a well- judged sliver of carbon jutting out from the lower front spoiler and it’s really well-integrated with factory bodywork and adds a nice touch of aggression without being over the top. Running between the wheels arches we’ve got some side skirt extensions and while I’m not usually a huge fan of these the Vorsteiner ones also seem to work pretty well from a visual perspective and don’t protrude so far that you end up bashing the back of your ankle on them when getting out of the car. At the rear there’s a nice carbon boot spoiler and what must be the best carbon diffuser I’ve yet seen on a Six that looks suitably shapely and aggressive.
There’s no escaping the wheels either as they’re pretty huge – 21-inch diameter Vorsteiner V-FF 103s – clad in Michelin Pilot Super Sports measuring a healthy 255/30 up front and a massive 305/25 at the rear. The owner decided to add the Michelin script to see what it would look like and while we reckon it would look out of place on the blue M6 Gran Coupé the overall effect of this M6 is so over the top that it actually works to my eyes.
Under the skin there are a couple of other upgrades too and you may well have spotted that both these cars have a little bit more in the way of ‘stance’ than their manufacturer intended and this is thanks to a KW height adjustable spring kit which works with the factory switchable dampers. However, it’s the power upgrade that really separates these two monsters from run-of-the-mill M6s… if you can ever refer to a twin-turbo super coupe as run-of-the-mill.
At the heart of the conversion sported by both these cars is a combination of an Evolve Stage Two remap, a pair of Eventuri carbon intakes and Evolve’s catless downpipes. Headline figures are hugely impressive with both the machines pumping out in the region of 730hp and 650lb ft of torque. If any proof were needed of how quick this makes these cars it would be worth looking at YouTube for a video of Evolve’s tuned F10 M5 that comprehensively blows away a Ferrari 458 Speciale on Bruntingthorpe’s two-mile straight… and then note that at the time the video was recorded the M5 was running Evolve’s milder Stage One state of tune!
I’m itching to give these cars a run to see how they’ll perform but once we’ve finished with the pictures of the Signal green Coupé it makes sense to get the shots of the San Marino Gran Coupé in the bag before getting the cars covered in dirt running them up and down the road for the camera. While mechanically they’re the same the GC sports a different set of styling upgrades and has a different exhaust set up too. We start with the under bonnet shots and when casting one’s eye over the engine bay it’s hard not to be impressed by the quality and the sexy look of the Eventuri intakes – if looks alone added horsepower these would add significantly to the car’s already prodigious output. They’ve been designed by Evolve’s sister company and their USP is that they turn the normal cone filter through 180 degrees so that the wider part of the filter meets the air first with the carbon filter housing gradually reducing in diameter until it meets the factory intake pipework. It’s a thoroughly thought through set up that’s been designed with all the latest 3D scanning and CAD software and even on their own they produce demonstrable power and torque gains. And adding some pizzazz to the fairly dour BMW under bonnet architecture is no bad thing either.
Elsewhere the Gran Coupé has been fully kitted out with 3D Design carbon accoutrements so we have a front splitter, side skirts, rear spoiler and diffuser and they look equally as sexy as those fitted to the Signal green Coupé. These parts were installed by Luton-based Quattro Coachworks who also painted the front of the Gran Coupé to remove some unsightly stone chips and the owner of the car cannot speak highly enough of the work they carried out. The Gran Coupé also sports a set of non-standard 20-inch alloys, in this case some Rohana RF2s, again clad in Michelin Pilot Super Sports. Unlike the Coupé which uses a standard M6 exhaust (albeit a Competition pack item as the Signal green car is a comp pack model) the Gran Coupé sports a full Akrapovic system, so it’ll be interesting to compare how they sound on the road.
And now we’ve finally got the pictures in the bag it’s time to see how they perform. The stretch of road we’re using has a tight 90-degree corner followed by a long, undulating straight that then drops down a hill through some more sweeping corners and as it’s fairly heavily wooded on the slope this part of the road is mighty slippery. Not wanting to return to Evolve with the cars in pieces I gradually build up the speed to discover how much traction and grip we’ve got to play with and while both cars hang on tenaciously around the more or less dry 90-degree bend through the faster sweepers they’re really struggling to put their power down. Acceleration in the lower gears has the traction control light flashing away in a demented fashion and it’s only in the higher gears that you can truly experience the full force of Evolve’s upgrades. I’ve not experienced what it’s like to attempt a take off in a fighter jet but I’m imagining that it’s not too dissimilar to how these cars feel, with momentum building faster and faster until that magical moment when you take to the air and head for the horizon in a wall of noise. Except in my case it’s hard on the anchors for the corner before approaching take off speed.
The wall of noise is definitely there though with both machines offering a distinctive soundtrack with each being a little louder and a little bit more tuneful at different points in the rev range. There’s not much to choose between them to be honest – both are significantly more tuneful than a regular M6’s exhaust – but if I were forced to say which one I prefered I’d probably opt for the Signal green car’s competition pack exhaust. It’s amazing how much more sound Evolve’s catless downpipes allow the car to develop, but the Coupé’s set up sounds wonderfully malevolent and goes very well with the car’s whole ‘in your face’ ethos.
As my confidence grows I switch the traction to the half way house mode and this allows the cars to transmit some more power to the road but I still struggle to really get to grips with the cars on the slippery stuff. No doubt the owners who will be much more familiar with how their cars react in these conditions could have covered the ground significantly quicker, but for the time being I’m quite happy for discretion to be the better part of valour and return the cars in one piece. That they’re devastatingly quick isn’t up for question, it’s more a matter of how big your cojones are when trying to travel rapidly! We’ll have to return another day and give them a try on some dry Tarmac – I reckon they’d put most supercars to shame at somewhere like Bruntingthorpe’s lengthy runway.
It’s only when we return to Evolve’s HQ and are giving the cars a last longing look and wondering why we didn’t pay more attention in school and ended up with better paid jobs that I finally wake up and realise the message in the Signal green coupé’s numberplate. V BIG BHP. Told you I didn’t wake up very quickly in the morning!
CONTACT: Evolve Automotive / Tel: 01582 573 801 / Web: www.evolveautomotive.com
Both are significantly more tuneful than a regular M6’s exhaust. Acceleration in the lower gears has the traction control light flashing away in a demented fashion. It’s hard not to be impressed by the quality and the sexy look of the Eventuri intakes.
TECHNICAL DATA FILE 2017 BMW M6 Competition Evolve F13
ENGINE: V8, 32-valve, turbocharged
CAPACITY: 4395cc
MAX POWER: 730hp
MAX TORQUE: 650lb ft
MODIFICATIONS:
ENGINE: Evolve Stage Two package: Evolve catless downpipes and Evolve remap – £3000 Eventuri intakes – £2016
EXHAUST: Standard Competition pack system
WHEELS: Vorsteiner 21-inch V-FF 103 – £2500
SUSPENSION: KW Height Adjustable Spring kit – £725
STYLING: Vorsteiner side skirts – £2620
Vorsteiner front splitter – £2427
Vorsteiner rear spoiler – £1462
Vorsteiner rear diffuser – £3006
Please note: quoted prices are for parts only (including VAT) but do not include fitting costs.
TECHNICAL DATA FILE 2017 BMW M6 Gran Coupé Evolve F06
ENGINE: V8, 32-valve, turbocharged
CAPACITY: 4395cc
MAX POWER: 730hp
MAX TORQUE: 650lb ft
MODIFICATIONS:
ENGINE: Evolve Stage Two package: Evolve catless downpipes and Evolve remap – £3000 Eventuri intakes – £2016
EXHAUST: Full Akrapovic with carbon tips – £6625
WHEELS: Rohana 20-inch RF2
SUSPENSION: KW Height Adjustable Spring kit – £725
STYLING: 3D Design side skirts – £2073
3D Design front splitter – £2226
3D Design rear spoiler – £1002
3D Design rear diffuser – £2306
Please not quoted prices are for parts only (including VAT) but do not include fitting costs.
