The new Alpina D5 Biturbo is ‘the meanest green car on the planet,’ according to the manufacturer.
Which is a fair enough assumption to make, given that the car has 347bhp, a whopping 516lb ft of torque and can hit 62mph in 5.1sec before bludgeoning its way to a top speed of 171mph.
But the numbers that distinguish the Alpina D5 as something a little bit different to the hoards of other high performance German mega-saloons, are these; 155g/km and 47.9mpg.
Not too many years ago such meagre emissions and fine economy statistics would have been the preserve of a decently competitive supermini. Now you can get them with supercar-slaying performance as well. In our book that makes the D5 one of, if not THE most relevant performance saloon cars of the moment.
And while we’re talking numbers, how does a list price of less than £60,000 grab you? Alpina thought long and hard about its pricing strategy for the UK, and in the end decided to go as lean as possible – on the basis that until BMW’s own ultra-high performance diesels go on sale, the D5 will have the market virtually to itself.
So Alpina didn’t want to put potential customers off with a sky high asking price. Quite the opposite, in fact, yet the basic specification of the car remains excellent, with top quality leather, sports seats, xenon headlights and Parking Distance Control all appearing as standard. There's even a Touring version available for those who need more space.
