There are a long list of grievances currently associated with the new BMW M5. Take your pick from weight, design, interior – or maybe take all three. Some will take more effort to resolve than others. As far as sound goes, the twin-turbo 4.4 V8 certainly seems a little muted from outside, no doubt thanks to a glut of filters – but Akrapovi? has been working on a solution.
Its Slip-On Line (Titanium) exhaust launched a little while back, but the video demonstrating what it actually did was only released this morning. And that’s the bit people are really interested in – see here. But there are additional points of interest to the new Akra setup, because you wouldn’t expect anything less from the Slovenian company these days. This isn’t some wild decat flamethrower, for starters, designed to work with all that’s bunged up an exhaust for EC/ECE type approval, so that’s good.
There’s another seven horsepower to be gained from the increased diameter exhausts, which barely qualifies as a gain with 727hp – but must be better than seven less. There’s also another 18lb ft, which might make more of a difference, plus a weight reduction of 6kg over the standard pipes – which certainly won’t. But titanium exhausts are always cool, wherever they’re fitted, and that’s almost a third less than stock. Akrapovi? has its own diffuser and rear spoiler lip to draw attention to its new hexagonal or round tailpipes.
‘Akrapovi? sound engineers have focused on delivering the optimal sound experience of an Akrapovi? type-approved exhaust’, they say, with acoustic reflectors to get external sound in the car, plus a new control kit for the valves. No small investment, you’d imagine, Akrapovi? confident that new M5 customers – probably like owners of the previous one, in fairness – might like a bit more voice to their turbo V8. We’ll let you be the judge of their success in the video, but expect to pay thousands for the privilege – the Akrapovi? expertise doesn’t come cheap. Good job there’s already money off some cars in the classifieds…