The new BMW is 100 horsepower short of an M5

BMW has announced an M Performance 5-series, coming to our shores as a 2018 model. The M550i xDrive should satisfy those customers who fancy themselves a sports car enthusiast, but don't want all that pesky sports car power.

The M Performance cars are a bit more tossable than their standard offerings, but keep the power a bit lower so you can keep speeding tickets at bay. While the M5 sedan has 560 horses under the hood, the M550i will get a slightly more practical 456 horsepower and 480 pound-feet of torque.

 

The 707 horsepower Dodge Charger Hellcat is one wicked beast

Dad! We launched the Hellcat!"

I had just driven my pal's 10-year-old son home from a swim meet in the 2016 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. He burst through the door, jabbering away to his dad about how much fun he'd just had and lording it over his two brothers. If you want to get on the good side of a kid, just take them for a ride in a 707-horsepower muscle car.

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The Charger Hellcat certainly is intimidating.

Emme Hall/Roadshow

With the kid in the backseat and his mom up front, we pulled up to a stop light, a long straight freeway on ramp ahead of us. "OK," I said. "Green light....go!"