Bmw's Front-Wheel Drive Car Spied

[GT-R32]

And the new M5 will be a V8 TT.

[Birds]

They aren't cheapening their image, just entering another market segment. This thing will still be expensive for what it is, which is what the Euro luxo brands are all about. Mercedes did it with the A class and it didn't impact the rest of their range. I imagine BMW are aiming squarely at the Golf and other Euro FWD hatches. If anything it will boost up the profiles of the rest of the BMW range, by pushing the 3 class as an intermediate market entry, when it used to be the base model / poor man's Beamer.

jus sayin

[FrangaR33]

They aren't cheapening their image, just entering another market segment. Mercedes did it with the A class and it didn't impact the rest of their range. I imagine they are aiming squarely at the Golf.

I agree and plus think of all the hipsters and Asians who will buy them so they can think they are top shit. Definetly a brilliant financial move by BMW and they will still have the 1,3,5 and 7 series for people who want a proper RWD BMW. Although with the cheapness of the new FWD models it may kill off the 1 series, because it is mostly bought by people with delusions of grandeur who just want the badge.

[Mayuri Krab]

I agree and plus think of all the hipsters and Asians who will buy them so they can think they are top shit.

+1

I can't wait to see one of my family friend buy one.

[karma_syke]

whats with the way they paint it? All swirly :S

is that to stop photographers getting too much detail from it?

[SoFreshSoClean]

I like it, mainly for the reason that it bumps up the 1 series from its 'bottom' position. 1M coupe is drool-worthy. I ache to drive one!!

Hope they ditch the bread van body style from the 1 series too, and just leave the hatch to the car that was meant to be a hatch.

[God_speed]

Nothing wrong with FWD tbh.

I personally loved my clio 197 when i had it, and i loved the megane 250RS when i had the chance to test drive the car. They handle well, a different sort of car to my GT-R, but they are still fun cars, that i would love to own here, if not for the ridiculous renault sump plug and having to reset the computer every service.

But they were well engineered sport hatchbacks.

FWD is just a matter of how you drive it, isnt it? Normally Beemers dont put out near enough power to do anything anyway, other than the real sport versions.

+1 RenaultSports are great FWD cars, right back to the Clio Williams. I've got a Clio 172 ('02) and it's quite a different feel to the car compared with the GTR (just talking about the chassis and drivetrain layout) but it's still fun to drive after getting out of the GTR.

Potentially, this will eat into Honda's market share, as there seems to be tons of people who drive Civics who wish they were driving bimmers instead and rice it up accordingly with chrome, cheap-ass aftermarket xenons and larger rims...

As a bit of a BMW fanboy I'm not quite sure what to make of it; the original "2002" BMW was not exactly a luxury car but was a fun to drive, sporty, stylish coupe priced slightly above the average car - this could be BMW having it both ways, returning to its roots while retaining the rest of the luxury range.

[ARTZ]

you can drive out of a corner in the wet and nail the throttle in a FWD and it goes where you point it..

try doin that a RWD and u end up sideways..

for everyday driving FWDs are much more predictable and safe..but not as much fun..

As for BMWs being something special...people forget they're just Taxis in europe, sure some of the top end models are awesome but your average beamer is exactly that...average , the same goes for 80% of the euro rubbish it really isnt that special people just like the badge but really its just an expensive wank

[SoFreshSoClean]

you can drive out of a corner in the wet and nail the throttle in a FWD and it goes where you point it..

try doin that a RWD and u end up sideways..

for everyday driving FWDs are much more predictable and safe..but not as much fun..

As for BMWs being something special...people forget they're just Taxis in europe, sure some of the top end models are awesome but your average beamer is exactly that...average , the same goes for 80% of the euro rubbish it really isnt that special people just like the badge but really its just an expensive wank

Er, not exactly.

Nail the throttle in a corner, in the wet in a FWD and you end up wearing whatever you were pointed at. Understeer, yo.

[ARTZ]

well if your dumb enough to nail the throttle IN the corner yeah..but read again you will notice it says drive OUT of a corner.

[xALmoN]

So it ultimately became an FWD vs RWD thread. lol.

[Birds]

It was always going to end up that way when you have news of a FWD car put up on a fan forum where the cars are RWD/AWD.

[ARTZ]

Er, not exactly.

Nail the throttle in a corner, in the wet in a FWD and you end up wearing whatever you were pointed at. Understeer, yo.

guess this guy hasnt checked out

http://www.huffyslider.com/

[xALmoN]

lol...

[Grey]

do awd have better launch than rwd and fwd?

[mickey]

that's a whole other topic you're starting there Grey...short story is it depends on many factors including weight/power disparity and driver.

I always thought if you wanted a fwd bmw then just buy the new mini...

otherwise I wouldn't worry about how it looks, with the camo and styling cues I would say it will look a lot different.

[Nee-san]

do awd have better launch than rwd and fwd?

ultimately, for launch we are talking optimal solutions here RWD>AWD>FWD

That said, there are not many AWD cars in the super fast categories of drag racing to make this a definitive thing, depends on the circumstances, environment and equipment your using, same tyre, track surface, power temperature etc etc.

[Birds]

do awd have better launch than rwd and fwd?

Factory street cars, and all things equal, AWD and RWD tend to have better launches in that order. Once you get into super duper serious drag racing, it becomes RWD/FWD/AWD going by the current world record times for each category.

[xALmoN]

I would think since that since torque is split to more wheels, and thus less load on the tires, the AWD would have a better launch and thus a better 1/4mile.

but then you get more drivetrain losses in awd.. so. i dont know.

[GT-R32]

Why don't we get into mean, median and standard deviation drag racing time for each example? I think it's far too difficult to say one is better than the other, it's down to many factors.

The pragmatic point of view says that with decent powered cars the restrictions of surfaces and street tyres, the 4WD tends to get up on the rest... Unless you are mid engined, or rear engined with massive rears, generally underpowered on the tyres anyway.