Z8 ONE BETTER; Alpina finally rumbles into the big, bad USA.(News)

Byline: MATT DAVIS

Alpina is one of those companies ``over there in Europe'' we know well, even if only by name. Such brand recognition happens when your sole partner has been a nearby company called BMW. Bavarian Motor Works has had an exclusive contract with Alpina more or less since Burkard Bovensiepen founded his firm in 1965. North American touring car performance lovers who have wanted readier access to Alpina products for some 40 years will be glad to know the wheels are at last in motion westward.

Near Munich, in the small town of Buchloe, we just drove what looks to be just another Z8. But these Z8s have been so transmogrified that they're being referred to as BMW Alpina Roadster V8s. The price to us is $137,595 plus $1,700 gas-guzzler tax and-let's face it-dealer jack-up instead of the thrifty $131,500-plus of the standard Z8. What's different?

Instead of the 4.9-liter M62 version of the BMW V8 located in all Z8s and M5s, this Roadster V8 carries a dedicated 4.8-liter version (codename F5/1) whose pieces are created by BMW based on Alpina parameters and then sent to Alpina for grinding, smoothing, polishing and assembly. It's 90 pounds lighter than the 4.9-liter and tolerances are one-third those of BMW, which are already one-third of industry norms. This motor shares a lot with the 4.6-liter V8 found in the X5-an engine also developed in large part by Alpina. In between the 340 horsepower at 5700 revs of the X5 4.6is and the 394 at 6600 revs of the M5 and Z8 comes the 375 at 5800 of the Roadster V8. Torque hits 383 lb-ft at 3800 rpm as opposed to the ``normal'' Z8 at 368 lb-ft at same. Redline is 6500 vs. the M62's 7200.

With these new power curves (i.e., 19 fewer horses at lower revs but a 15 lb-ft advantage), one aim of the BMW Alpina Roadster V8 is to give more get-up-and-go in the city, or in overtaking situations where more zip is wanted and top speed is less a concern. But the raison d'etre is revealed in the five-speed Alpina Switch-tronic transmission, itself based on the BMW Steptronic auto-stick from ZF. Sequential-style shift buttons grow from the three- and nine-o'clock spots at ...