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By EWAN
KENNEDY
14 December 2009
Examine
the front of the just released BMW X6 M and you may be surprised
to see there are no foglights. The reason for this is simple; the
big twin-turbo V8 petrol engine needs all the air it can get to
pump up its power and to get sufficient air to the cooling system
to keep the stunning powerplant at the correct operating
temperature.
This is a serious high-performance machine, not just a pretty
pretender in the automotive stakes. Indeed it's so serious that
BMW Australian chose to hold the press launch at the ultra-fast
Philip Island race track. There we journalists were free to have
unrestrained use of the track under the guidance of BMW's chief
driving instructor Geoff Brabham.
The launch of a 4WD on a racing circuit probably sound
preposterous, indeed it would be in the case of the great majority
of 4WDs/SUVs, but for the M (for Motorsport) version of the BMW X6
it made a lot of sense.
Let's get some numbers out on paper before we look at the
performance of the latest BMW for 2010. The 4.4-litre V8 engine
develops a neat 555 horsepower (408 kilowatts in metric terms) and
680 Newton metres (that's right 680!). Not only is that torque
extremely high, it's even more amazing because the twin
turbochargers mean the 680 Nm is there on demand all the way from
1500 to 5650 revs. Meaning that in real life driving all that
grunt is on tap all the time.
This engine output means the big BMW X6 is faster to 100 km/h (a
mere 4.7 seconds) than any other vehicle in its class. Yet it uses
less petrol –being officially measured at 14.3 litres per
hundred kilometres by Australian Design Rule 81/02 – than any
other in the class.
More performance/less fuel usage really does indicate that BMW is
travelling strongly in its quest for Efficient Dynamics (to use
its own term). A quest that seems contradictory, yet the German
giant is proving that it is possible.
On the track the big BMW holds on grimly in corners. For a two and
a half tonne vehicle it has plenty of handling ability. Though
it's not always keen to change direction in tight on-road running,
the high-speed flowing nature of Philip Island suited it to
perfection. It got close to its governed top speed of 250 km/h on
the main straight, with us touching the brakes for the swooping
right hander at just over 240 km/h.
The brakes hauled off speed for the two tight right handers that
are almost like U-turns and never showed any signs of fade, even
when slowing from 180 km/h to 80 km/h in just a few seconds.
Yet this big four-seater SUV/coupe has plenty of comfort for
regular on-road use and makes an impressive sight in the cafe and
other cruising circuits.
You can allow electronic aids to help you, or switch them off in
various stages. We used the ‘M’ setting which allows a fair
bit of vehicle action in the way of understeer or oversteer before
taking control to try to get it on the straight and narrow again.
This is the way most owners are likely to treat the X6 M.
The complete BMW X6 range, with prices (excluding government and
dealer charges) is:
X6 xDrive 35i 3.0-litre petrol: $115,700 (automatic)
X6 xDrive 35d 3.0-litre turbo-diesel: $121,500 (automatic)
X6 xDrive 50i 4.4-litre petrol: $146,000 (automatic)
X6 xDrive M 4.4-litre petrol: $179,900 (automatic)
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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