The Alpina XD3 Has 383bhp And Four Turbochargers

With Porsche dropping diesel from its range, FCA reportedly doing the same by 2022 and others certainly following, the fuel really is falling out of favour with the car industry. But, it seems Alpina didn’t get the memo. Not if its latest vehicle is anything to go by, at least.

It’s called the XD3, and as you’ve probably gathered from the middle letter in that name, the BMW X3-based creation is powered by a diesel engine. But not any oil-burning lump: it displaces 3.0 litres, puts out 383bhp, and has four turbochargers. Yes, four.

Torque from the B57 engine meanwhile weighs in at a punchy 568lb ft, while the usual 0-62mph sprint it dealt with in just 4.6 seconds. Get yourself on a nice de-restricted piece of autobahn, and it’ll keep going until 165mph before running out of puff.

The XD3 with Alpina’s own sports suspension setup including adaptive dampers, and there’s a new limited-slip differential for the rear axle. On the otuside, the bodywork gets the usual Alpina makeover we’ve seen many times before, which sees a branded splitter teamed up with some massive multi-spoke wheels. In the case of the XD3, they measure 22 inches in diameter to fill those massive wheel arches.

All sounds rather lovely, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, there is one slight issue: we won’t get the quad-turbo version in the UK. Apparently, the powertrain can’t be packaged in a right-hand drive configuration. Instead, we’ll be getting a twin-turbo version with 330bhp and 516lb ft of torque. It’ll do 0-62mph in 4.9 seconds, so it’s not exactly a slouch either; you just won’t be able to brag about your four turbochargers to your disinterested mates at the pub…