How the Most Powerful BMW R 1300 GS Ever Made Beat a Porshe 911 Up a Volcano Slope

Before we go into the details of said achievement a bit of context is in order. Most of the time, when car- and bike makers try to advertise their products they go out on a track somewhere and put their rides through their paces there. If some record happens to be smashed in the process, even better.

But there are a few, very few, who advertise their products by going for more extreme approaches. They do things average Joes using their vehicles would probably never get to do, but they will still remain impressed at the capabilities displayed.

One such extreme approach is to climb a volcano. Not any volcano, but the one whose peak sits the highest above sea level, the Nevado Ojos del Salado in Chile, South America. The peak of the thing is located at 6,893 meters (almost 22,615 feet) above sea level, significantly higher than the tallest peak of the European Alps, the Mont Blanc.

It's a place no vehicle on this planet can reach, but several have come pretty close over the years. Most recently, meaning at the beginning of this month, we've learned about a highly modified Porsche 911, driven by three-time Le Mans champion Romain Dumas, reaching an altitude no other car on this planet is known to have reached: 6,734 meters (22,093 feet). In doing so, the car and driver set a record.

I said earlier that the BMW R 1300 GS is much better at climbing mountains than the Porsche, and that might have you believe the bike managed to reach a higher point up the volcano. Well, not really, as the highest a fleet of stock bikes of this variety managed to reach was only 6,027 meters (19,774 feet).

How, then, is the two-wheeler more capable than a 911? Simple: it reached that point a hell of a lot faster than the Porsche was capable of.

The German carmaker and the crew that accompanied the two prepped 911s (called Doris and Edith) literally crawled to the summit, as they needed a full two weeks to reach it. Most of the time was not spent driving, but for the acclimatization of both vehicles and the humans accompanying them.

Well, BMW and its crew of four motorcycles did that in less than 20 hours. The adventure started on December 6, when the crew departed from sea level, and ended just 19 hours and 22 minutes later at 6,027 meters.

Also unlike Porsche, aside from being fully equipped for such a long and treacherous ride up the volcano, the four bikes were not unlike what every one of us can get off the dealers' lots, packing even the off-road Metzeler Karoo 4 tires that are optionally available for the R 1300 GS. They were wrapped around wheels with sizes not generally seen in such treks, 19-inch front and 17-inch rear.

The motorcycles were under the control of experienced riders, including Italian Extreme Enduro Champion Michele Pradelli and BMW Motorrad's Development Manager Christof Lischka.

Despite the rather rapid ascent, don't go thinking these guys just woke up one day, climbed on their bikes, and then up the volcano. Longtime prep work was required, which included dry runs on Italy's own famous volcano, Mount Etna, medical tests, and even setting up base camps along the way to the top of Ojos del Salado.

As per BMW, the main reason behind this expedition was to prove the bike's "outstanding off-road expertise and unique robustness." You know, just in case the specs are not enough for you.

The new R 1300 GS was introduced as a successor of the bikes that technically gave birth to the the touring enduro segment, starting with the R 80 G/S.

Built around a new and stiffer steel shell main frame (with a diecast aluminum rear subframe instead of the steel one offered until now), the bike is powered by a boxer engine 1,300cc in displacement, featuring a new camshaft drive arrangement.

The motorcycle is the most powerful of its kind thanks to the 145 hp and 149 Nm of torque the boxer engine cranks out. In fact, we're talking about the most powerful boxer engine BMW ever made, and it's fitted on this beast.

For the American market the model is still listed as becoming available soon (early 2024 is likely) but the configurator for it is already up and running, and you can spec your own volcano climber starting from $19,590. The standard MSRP however was announced to be lower than that, namely $18,895.