First Drive: BMW X4 xDrive 30d M Sport
X6 sales of over 250,000 demonstrated that BMW can create demand for something we never knew we needed. Can they do the same with the new X4 asks Geraldine Herbert. What is it? BMW aims to tempt those who like their cars with a performance edge by this time taking the X3 and giving it a “coupe” makeover. First impressions of the new BMW X4? Based on the same platform as the BMW X3, the X4 is just a fraction longer but it sits 36mm...
BMW i3 Range Extender (REX)
Is futuristic styling and a nifty drive enough to make the BMW i3 a game-changer in the electric car market, Geraldine Herbert finds out What is it? The i3 is BMW’s first foray into the electric vehicle market and was designed from the ground up to be an electric vehicle. The “standard” i3 has an electric motor which will allow you go about 160 Kms before you need to recharge. Recharging takes about 8 hours from a standard...
Range Rover Sport Versus BMW X5
The Range Rover Sport may be the Swiss Army Knife of cars but does the BMW X5 have the edge? we find out What is it? Judging from its size and sheer bulk, you’d guess the new X5 is a big, thirsty machine designed for family space rather than sportiness but car enthusiasts know otherwise. This is as much a performance car as any other BMW. Following the phenomenal success of the Evoque and the critical acclaim for the new Range...
BMW 318d Luxury Gran Turismo
The BMW 3 series GT is longer, wider and taller than any other 3 but is bigger necessarily better, we find out? What is it? The iconic GT name was coined in the 1930s to describe European cars designed to cosset their occupants in opulent luxury. Capturing this spirit the 3 series Grand Tourer, or Gran Tourismo as they say in Italy, promises to be just what the name suggests, a car for Grand Touring. Who is it aimed at? Keen drivers...
The Emotive Power of Car Design
A new study from Volvo shows that good car design can make us feel emotions similar to what we feel when looking at a picture of a crying or happy baby, or an attractive member of the opposite sex. We look at the emotional side of car design. “Cars are not a suit of clothes; cars are an avatar. Cars are an expansion of yourself: they take your thoughts, your ideas, your emotions, and they multiply it,” said former chief of design at...
