Car Review 2011 BMW X6 – Crossover vehicles are perhaps the fastest growing segment of the automotive market. Typically, this marries a SUV body to a car-based platform. What if the reverse were true? Welcome to the new 2011 BMW X6.
The 2011 BMW X6 is officially labeled as a Sport Activity Coupe, a pretty sleek 4-door coupe at that. It sits atop a modified X5 platform and is lower, wider and longer than the X5. Now BMW will likely give me grief for referring to the X5 as a SUV platform and it really is not in the truest sense of the term, but its as close as you are likely to get from this manufacturer.
An aggressively portioned front end flows back towards a chopped roofline and back over a sharply angled fastback rear window. The rear section is a delightful visual element not seen in this class of vehicle. BMW is taking a bold departure from the status quo, but its unique vision of automotive design clearly differentiates it from many other luxury manufacturers reluctant to boldly go where no car has gone before.
In North America the new BMW X6 will be offered with two power plants: a 3.0L twin-turbocharged engine producing 300 hp and a 4.4L V8, also twin-turbo charged, that cranks out a heady 400 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque. European buyers will likely choose between the two diesel options available to them.
My tester was the x-Drive35i. It comes with BMW’s fabulous x-Drive system standard – it shuttles torque between the front and rear axles as traction permits. A secondary system is then able to split the torque between the left and right rear wheels. It not only alters the torque distribution on acceleration, it also looks after the vehicle when it decelerates – as such it becomes the first line of stability control.
