BMW X4: 20.5.14, Bilbao BMW aims to capitalise on a successful formula with a sportier X3-derived SUV

摘要

IT'S A CARTH AT many road testers loved to hate. Big, profligate and about as subtle as a Hummer parked on your lawn, the BMW X6 has been politely vilified by critics, this one included, for its unashamed excess. And yet the public have duly ignored this advice, snapping up the X6 by the hundreds of thousands. Over a quarter of a million of these giant-size four-seat, four-wheel-drive coupes have found buyers so far, and, not unreasonably, BMW is lining up to repeat the feat with the same idea miniaturised in the shape of the X4. If you're familiar with the BMW X3, the X4 will feel, well, familiar. At heart it's the same car, but with a modest range of changes that turn it into a device usefully more sporting. It has a lower centre of gravity. Its occupants sit a little closer to earth. Its springs, dampers, bushings and steering have been recalibrated for a more rewarding drive, while torque vectoring heightens its cornering power and its eight-speed transmission harnesses different gearing and an altered shift strategy for more incisive performance.