New 400 hp AMC Eagle

[pow]

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/autoshow...*#08bmwx6crg500

What is it?

2009 BMW X6

What's special about it?

Coupelike agility combined with SUV utility? That's the promise of the 2009 BMW X6. It sounds like a stretch, but if any company can pull it off, BMW can. It already made its X5 SUV handle like a sedan, so making the similarly sized (although slightly lower) X6 feel like a coupe isn't impossible.

A choice of two turbocharged engines should help. Base models, which will be known as the xDrive35i, will get the same twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-6 as the 3 and 5 Series sedans. It delivers 300 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque, so even the entry-level X6 should be plenty fast.

The real news is the top-of-the-line model known as the xDrive50i. It's the first BMW to use the company's new twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8. Like the smaller inline-6, the all-aluminum V8 uses direct injection to help deliver both efficiency and big power. Rated to produce 400 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque, the xDrive50i tops both the supercharged Range Rover Sport and the Porsche Cayenne S in both horsepower and torque. BMW says the xDrive50i will go from zero to 60 mph in 5.3 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 155 mph.

All-wheel drive is standard on both trim levels of the X6 along with a six-speed automatic transmission. A new system called Dynamic Performance Control (DPC) has also been added to the xDrive all-wheel-drive system. In addition to modulating power between the front and rear wheels, DPC also has the ability to increase or decrease torque to each of the rear wheels to help steer the X6 through corners. Those wheels will be 19 inches in diameter on most X6s, although 20-inch wheels will be available as an option.

With such advanced hardware, the coupelike qualities of the X6 don't seem like an exaggeration. It's the utility end of the equation that's a little harder to justify. Unlike the current X5, the X6 is designed for a driver and three passengers only. There are no third-row seats of any kind and the second row gets a center console between the seats. There are only 25.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats, and even with the seats folded, the maximum cargo space only goes up to 59.7 cubic feet. That's less than BMW's smaller X3 SUV on both counts.

It looks as though BMW is counting on buyers who are more interested in the coupe side of the equation anyway, as everything about the interior is geared toward driving fast. All four seats feature oversize side bolsters and integrated headrests. There's also a standard sport steering wheel with integrated shift paddles, not to mention a set of knee pads on the center console to give the driver and front passenger something to lean on in fast turns.

Production starts in the spring of 2008 at BMW's assembly plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, so expect to see the X6 in dealerships by June. BMW has yet to announce any pricing, but given its premium engine lineup, the X6 will most likely slot in slightly above the current X5.

What's Edmunds' take?

It's an interesting package of performance and utility. Too bad it comes in a shape that will send buyers flocking to the X5 instead. — Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor, Inside Line

Personally, I kinda like how bizarre it looks. After all the complaints about "Bangle" styling, the new BMWs are almost too pleasing to look at. I can't imagine the X6 selling in great numbers, so it'll be very rare, individualistic, loved-or-hated.

[PurdueGuy]

I kinda like it.

[Z-06]

No manual transmission? That is not what I expected from a Beemer.

[pow]

No manual transmission? That is not what I expected from a Beemer.

They stopped offering them in the X5 since 2007.

[Z-06]

They stopped offering them in the X5 since 2007.

True, but the X6 will be probably a sportier version than mommy mobile.

[Northstar]

It's interesting, but a 5er wagon does the job just as well, looks classier, and probably performs better.

It looks like rear visibility would be terrible...

I'm growing tired of the same basic design in every BMW interior. Can they not make a new design except for every time a new 7-Series comes around?

400hp and 450lb-ft is quite nice, though not that impressive when you consider it has DI and twin turbos. I expect the UV8 (if it's 4.8 liters) to be over 400HP naturally aspired (if it has the same hp/L as the 3.6 DI it will have 405HP).

[mustang84]

Not bad, but that front end is CR-V bad. What's with that weird gap?

[pow]

It's interesting, but a 5er wagon does the job just as well, looks classier, and probably performs better.

It looks like rear visibility would be terrible...

I'm growing tired of the same basic design in every BMW interior. Can they not make a new design except for every time a new 7-Series comes around?

400hp and 450lb-ft is quite nice, though not that impressive when you consider it has DI and twin turbos. I expect the UV8 (if it's 4.8 liters) to be over 400HP naturally aspired (if it has the same hp/L as the 3.6 DI it will have 405HP).

If it's anything like the twin-turboed six, BMW could be underrating it, for fear of being too close in power to the M V10. On the dyno, the 3.0 TT puts out 275 hp at the wheels, or ~330 at the crank, which is close to what the old M3 had. That's why the 335i is so much quicker than similarly powerful G35s, IS350s, or S4s.

And now's probably the time to point out a fact I've always found interesting... all their recent engines (3.0, 3.0TT, 4.8, 4.8TT, 5.0) have horsepower ratings that end suspiciously with "0s" (230-260, 300, 360, 400, 500). It seems like they're rounding down.

[Northstar]

Not bad, but that front end is CR-V bad. What's with that weird gap?

Perhaps it could be for air intake? It's not as bad as the CR-V, but it could definitely be improved.

[Intrepidation]

I do like it overall, except the huge gaps where the tiny fog lights go. I'm also sick of BMW's interior designs. They look horrible and uninviting...their saving grace is that they are made well out of quality materials....but c'mon...they all look the same.

[pow]

Come to think of it, I'd certainly hope that adding two turbos would add more than 40 hp to a big V8.

I finished reading the press release, and the X6 is shoved full of hi-tech electrogizmery that's surely to break after 75K miles.

It has the latest version of Active Steering, so in addition to a 1:1 ratio below 55 mph and counter-steering to mitigate crosswinds, it can "[counter-steer] discreetly but firmly to prevent the car from swerving out of control" when braking on different surfaces left and right.

There are "anti-roll bar swivel motors and ... electromagnetic valves in the dampers [that vary] body roll and the damping effect appropriately at all times and in all situations."

The V8, which is actually a 4.4, not 4.8, hits peak torque at 1800 rpm all the way to 4500 rpm, and peak horsepower from 5500-6400 rpm.

The drive belt for the A/C compressor comes with an automatically disengaging clutch, saving gas, which makes this 2.5 ton twin-turboed truck "green." Sort of.

The Active Cruise Control does not have the "Stop & Go" function found on the 5-series, meaning it isn't autonomous in traffic.

If the X6 begins to "understeer ... Dynamic Performance Control will dynamically shift torque to the outside rear wheel ... to counteract the understeer. On the other hand, if the vehicle threatens to over-steer, xDrive reduces the transmission of power to the rear wheels then the Dynamic Performance Control transfers torque and drive forces from the outer rear wheel and diverts these forces to the inner rear wheel." This is to minimize stability control brake intervention.

"The system is able within a fraction of a second to vary the distribution of drive forces, with BMW xDrive -- unlike conventional all-wheel-drive systems -- anticipating the upcoming situation and not just responding once a wheel has started to spin. This serves to stabilize the vehicle even before the driver notices any need for action."

Like SH-AWD, it can vary torque between left and right rear wheels, but even better, it works in overrun (i.e. when lifting off the gas). "This is made possible by the addition of a planetary gear set and a multiple-plate clutch operated by an electric motor on both output sides of the rear differential. With this configuration Dynamic Performance Control is able to vary the distribution of drive power also when the driver takes his foot off the accelerator."

[Nick]

I wish I had a camera tonight...I went to a movie and in the parking lot was a camo'd X6 and a small camo'd roadster of some sort...It looked like a younger guy was getting in the driver's seat of the X6. I circled around him a couple times in my car and he was giving me the weirdest looks. I wish I had a camera. I mean, we know what the X6 will look like more or less, but that smaller camo'd car was more itneresting...could've possibly been a 1er convertible.

[dado]

Don't like the design..engines sound- good v8 TT with 400 hp..well it's not sport sedan and maybe this engine will have even more HP in sedan (bmw 5 or something like that).If i can remember correct ultra V8 should also have HP around that number in sedan(but without forced induction) but smaller number in SUV.

[Paolino]

Well, I'm surprised... I honestly thought I was going to hate it--I really don't, although I'm still not a fan of the tail of the car.

[Robert Hall]

I like it...I like the fastback instead of the usual SUV roofline. I'd take one over an X5.

[Drew Dowdell]

Oldsmobile sucking a lemon.

[Drew Dowdell]

The drive belt for the A/C compressor comes with an automatically disengaging clutch, saving gas, which makes this 2.5 ton twin-turboed truck "green." Sort of.

Am I missing something here? Hasn't this been around since the 50s?

[regfootball]

what a lame piece of $h!. There is no other way to sum this up.

infiniti EX meets pontiac vibe.

interior is hardly 'coupe like'

BMW has a decent concept here but this is totally half-assed. It's called 'execution' BMW. No stick? PUHLEASE.

This is fat in the flanks. Style not part of the equation here?

Turbo X sportcombi looks pretty sensible compared to this.

I would also tend to agree with the other's comments about the interior being crap. Nothing about this interior design says 'driver oriented'.

WHy not just get a mazda6 hatch?

I would get a previous gen X5 with stick over this contrived pile of dung. This is the equivalent of renting times square and then masturbating infront of a live audience.

This is simply a badge engineering job at its worst.

The pricks who line up to buy this, even more so.

This sort of concept could have been done a LOT better than this piece of crap and that is why I am ragging on it. This has all the effort of Aztek written all over it and that is why this fails in a massive way.

At least the Infiniti FX has some style. This thing is a turd. About as totally retarded as the Mini CLubman.

Edited December 16, 2007 by regfootball

[loki]

if you didn't have the nose or emblems, it looks like a infinity/acura mash up , at least to me, without factoring in the height.

[Duncan]

Oldsmobile sucking a lemon.

Bonus points for the classic Edsel reference. Nice!

As for this piece of sh...um, "new idea", I'm not feeling it at all. BMW and Porsche are apparently trying to outdo each other in who can have the most wrong vehicle for their brands first. BMW appears to have won this round, but it's only a matter of time until the Panamera sedan arrives from Stuttgart.

I was never a huge BMW fan to start with, though I always appreciated the older (pre-1995 or so) models. I appreciate them even more now...

[Duncan]

The pricks who line up to buy this, even more so.

Oh, most assuredly, there are vast numbers of pricks who will buy this. And I will laugh at them incessantly.

The headline of this thread, by the way, is demeaning to the AMC Eagle. At least it offered real utility and honest (if not impressive) styling. Also, it wasn't the TOTAL F**KING ANTITHESIS of what its builder stood for in the automotive market.