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First Drive: 2011 BMW 5 Series is a smooth operator

Perşembe, 08 Nisan 2010

2011 BMW 5-Series

The outgoing BMW 5 Series may have ushered in a dramatic leap forward in terms of dynamics, technology, safety and creature comforts, but it’s the previous generation – the E39 – that Bimmerphiles still speak of in hushed tones. The departing E60 may have been a more capable package, but it was also the source of much controversy and hand wringing. Blame Chris Bangle. Blame byzantine iDrive menu structures. Blame spirit-muffling layers of electronics. Hell, blame improved competition or hidebound brand loyalists who refuse to accept the new. No matter whose camp you point the finger at, the 2004-2010 5 Series was a polarizing creature, both aesthetically and from behind the wheel. Despite (or perhaps because of) all this, BMW enjoyed record-setting global sales of the Fiver, suggesting that that the traditionalists had it all wrong.

Still, one look at the new-for-2011 F10 model might reasonably lead you to believe that a bit of mulligan has occurred at the hand of Adrian van Hooydonk and his design team – a toning down of the E60′s most divisive elements. To be sure, the E60′s Dame Edna spectacles have been consigned to a dusty drawer and the raised “Bangle Butt” has kept its date with Celebrity Fit Club. In the not-so-dearly departed’s place is a handsome new sedan that appears simultaneously more in line with the 5 Series’ lineage yet firmly set on the future. But to label the sixth-generation Fiver as an aesthetic or strategic regression would be incorrect, van Hooydonk tells us. As he points out, BMW design has a tendency to periodically muscle in with big, bold, design statements – to knock down walls – and in the follow-up model, its stylists can move about a bit more in the clean air made possible by its predecessor. Fair enough – we prepared to check our Weltschmerz at the door and give this new Fiver a shot. Has it all been worked out for the better? BMW invited us to hop a couple of planes to Portugal in order to find out.

2011 BMW 5-Series pictures

2011 BMW 5-Series Black

2011 BMW 5-Series

2011 BMW 5-Series Car Wallpaper

2011 BMW 5-Series Interior

2011 BMW 5-Series Engine

Etiketler: 2011 BMW, 2011 BMW 5 Series, 5 Series, BMW 5, First Drive, smooth operator
Kategori: Cars | Yorum Yok »

First Drive: 2011 Jaguar XJ

Pazar, 07 Mart 2010

2011 Jaguar XJ
This car isn’t kidding. The dramatic new shape speaks of a shift in direction for the XJ nameplate; the driving experience follows up on the promise. It’s true that the previous XJ had an aluminum body and roughly the same chassis architecture, so you could argue this is little more than a reskin and a repowering. But in the first few yards, you realize it represents a comprehensive rethink of what a large Jaguar luxury sedan should be.

2011 Jaguar XJ

It’s shifting away from the S-Class or A8 or 7 Series. The XJ feels distinctly sportier. The ride is no longer the waft it was with the old XJ. The V-8 isn’t intended to be silent. The steering is quick, the cornering agile. The design isn’t meant to communicate formality or businesslike status: It’s about panache and extroversion and a bit of fun. Just look at that interior. The most stylish cabin in the world today? I wouldn’t disagree.

2011 Jaguar XJ

And as to the exterior: Well, as we drive through Paris, a city where people know about style, they stop and point and stare in amazement. Driving through the countryside north of that great city, where the traffic-free rural roads roads are alternately open and sweeping or twisty and bumpy, your reporter is continually amazed too-at the numbers being passed by the speedometer needle.

2011 Jaguar XJ

That is the achievement of the new XJ. Other big sedans use a wider array of active chassis technologies than the Jaguar does; it does without 4WD or 4WS or active steering or active anti-roll. But when the others hunker into their sport modes, they tend to lose fluency. They take every opportunity to remind you what a task it is to make an elephant dance. The XJ is different. It feels remarkably unflustered and natural.