BMW's newest performance coupe sees the brand back to its traditional best – on the face of it. In reality? A Cayman and CLA 45 S help us decide
and the BMW but it’s the most impressive and carefully conceived non-V8 AMG there has ever been so, if nothing else, it deserves to be here to better frame BMW’s efforts.
Second, and related, the BMW feels a touch tubby. Mainly because it is. With four-wheel drive and a ZF-supplied eight-speed torque-converter automatic, for which the lowest three ratios have been squeezed together and whose shift quality is now exquisitely crisp, it weighs 1690kg. If that looks a big number on the page, context does it no help at all. When this car’s M235i xDrive predecessor broke cover in 2014, it weighed 1525kg.
Of the two damper modes, Comfort provides enough control for all but the most challenging roads, where you might go to Sport. Either way, there’s finesse and flow in the body movements and this goes some way to making up for the shortfall in confidence imparted by muscularly weighted but mainly numb electrically assisted steering.
Certainly not in the Porsche. Both the CLA and the 718 Cayman throw the BMW’s strengths and weaknesses into useful relief, but it’s the Porsche that matters more in this contest because of its price and rear-driven layout. In truth, it probably loses more than it wins against the BMW, but where it does win, it wins big .
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Lincoln EV concept, BMW i7 M70, Land Rover Defender SVX: Car News HeadlinesLincoln's EV future, BMW's electric super sedan, and a hardcore Defender all made headlines today.
Read more »
Hot takes: the world reacts to divisive new BMW 7-seriesLunchtime debate: we explore the extraordinary reaction to the new BMW7 – join TimPollardCars as he considers the hot takes on the new 7-series and i7 from the polarising world of social media 📢
Read more »
BMW 7-Series to spawn more powerful M760e plug-in hybrid and i7 M70 electric versionsThe most powerful version of the seventh-generation 7-Series will be electric and pack over 600 hp.
Read more »
BMW dévoile une Série 7 passablement transformée avec la i7 | Actualités automobile | Auto123BMW a présenté la version tout électrique de sa Série 7, l’i7, qui bénéficie d’un design audacieux qui brise la tradition avec ce modèle.
Read more »
BMW Adds an Electric I7 Sedan to Its Flagship 7-Series Lineup, Starting at $119,300The new EV was unveiled on Wednesday as the newest entrant in the 7-Series lineup, which is expected to arrive at U.S. dealerships during the fourth quarter.
Read more »
BMW i4 M50 2022 review – has BMW picked off the Tesla Model 3 first time around? | EvoLots of BMW M’s magic has found its way into a convincing package that’s let down by the usual EV compromises
Read more »