Fast and steady

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Fast and steady

Friday, 25 September 2020 | Kushan Mitra

Fast and steady

The BMW X4 is great but not the most practical car

I  first drove the BMW X4 around the Blue Ridge mountains on the border between North and South Carolina in the summer of 2018. This is because most of the BMW manufactures’ ‘X’ range of Sports Utility Vehicles is at a factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina. In fact, if Donald Trump had imposed taxes on European imports into the United States and Europe had responded, BMW would have been the worst affected carmaker because it would have suffered from both ends.

Opposite the factory, there is a BMW track where they test their SUVs. There was one sweeping left-hander, which in the US is on the other side of the steering wheel, and had a negative camber. That is the inside of the turn was higher than the outside, quite unlike turns on most racetracks which are angled into the turn, described as positive camber. In a positive camber turn, the most extreme examples of which are oval racetracks in the US, the banking of the corner helps turn the car into the corner with less steering input, thanks to centrifugal force. In a negative camber corner, you are fighting that force that wants to pull you down and those are challenging for both the car as well as the driver. But in a two-ton SUV, it is even more challenging because of the sheer weight of the car. The fact that SUVs aren’t really sporty.

Then you drive the X4 through that turn and get shocked at just how well it handles it, even after a couple of laps having switched some of the driver aids off. It is a testament to just how superlative handling has become on some SUVs, that a corner like that which might have led to a rollover at higher speeds a decade ago, can be handled so darn easily. One reason for that is the couple like shape of the X4, giving it a lower stance than the X3 on which it is based. On the twisty hill roads in the Carolina’s, the X4 was really fun to drive. Well, the X4 30d, the top-end variant that BMW India sells, is just how I remember it around the corners. Fast and steady.

But then you realise that out here in India, it is quite difficult to make a case for a car like this. The BMW X3 might not have this amazing engine and definitely cannot take the corners as well, but it makes much more practical sense here. Firstly, the X4 is a far more driver-oriented car than the X3, and unless you are driving yourself all the time, one can question the extra Rs 5,00,000 you spend on a comparable 30i petrol-engine variant. I agree that the 265hp 30d variant with the three-litre turbocharged diesel is not available on the X3 but that just highlights my point that the X4 is a driver’s car. If you really want drivability, the five-series sedan with the petrol engine is Rs 10,00,000 less, although the M Sport 530i with all the toys costs 61 lakh, the sedan is better.

Yes, the X4 will stand out and the 30d has a lot of power to get out of almost any situation. But the X4 is targeted at a single person or a young couple because the X3 is a lot more practical with its shape able to hold a lot more luggage inside. I feel that the X4 30d is better value in terms of its overall package than the Jaguar F-Pace or even the Porsche Macan, the latter being a bit pricier. The Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe 300d is its biggest rival. While, even in the case of the Merc, I’d buy the standard GLC body shape, I think the Bimmer wins on the handling front. The X4 is an excellent vehicle but maybe this is because I’m getting older now, I just cannot see the logic of it when the X3 is around.

BMW X4 30d M Sport

Engine: 2993cc six-cylinder Turbocharged Diesel

Power: 265HP

Transmission: 8-speed Dual-Clutch

Ex-Showroom Price (as tested) Rs 67.9 Lakh

Milage (rated/tested): 16.8 kmpl/11 kmpl

Rating: 8/10

Competition: Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe, Jaguar

F-Pace, Porsche Macan

“Brings the ‘Sports’ back in to Sports Utility Vehicle but the X3 makes more sense”

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