View Single Post
      04-16-2011, 12:06 AM   #1
Jason
Administrator
Jason's Avatar
United_States
40324
Rep
21,232
Posts

Drives: F80 M3
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA

iTrader: (0)

Post MT's First Drive Review of BMW Turbo 4-cylinder X1 xDrive28i

BIMMERPOST NEWS
MT's First Drive Review of BMW Turbo 4-cylinder X1 xDrive28i
28
COMMENTS
Name:  P90052193.jpg
Views: 11608
Size:  140.5 KB

Reviews of BMW's Twinpower Turbo 2.0L inline 4-cylinder Motor (N20) are currently limited to drives of the X1 xDrive28i as that is only model being powered by the N20 thus far. However, BMW has just announced that the first US model to feature the N20 turbo 4-cyl motor will be the 2012 Z4 sDrive28i.

Motor Trend now shares their first impressions of the x1 xDrive28i and its new turbo 4 cylinder heart.

In comparing (on paper) the turbo N20 to the naturally aspirated 6-cylinder engine it replaces, the advantages are many:

Quote:
Zero-to-60 mph acceleration actually drops by 0.7 seconds, BMW says, to just 6.1 seconds. Average fuel consumption, as measured on the European cycle, improves by 5 miles per gallon to 30 mpg average. CO2 emissions drop by 35 grams per kilometer."

That's not bad for a smaller, less-powerful engine, at least from a pure horsepower perspective. BMW's new turbo 2.0 puts out 241 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. The virtue of the trade-off in horsepower and torque comes in the delivery. Both engines have nearly identical horsepower curves, but the four-cylinder peaks 2000 RPM earlier and holds it to redline, whereas the six didn't peak until the 7000 RPM redline. In fact, until 6000 RPM, the four-cylinder is actually making more power than the six at any given RPM. The torque curves are even more interesting. Where the six built up to its peak torque at 3000 rpm then tapered off slightly, the turbo four hits peak torque at 1300 RPM and holds it to 5000 RPM before tapering off.
Of the real world feel of the N20, MT says:

Quote:
The real-world result is, quite predictably, that the turbo four feels more powerful off the line and while accelerating in gear from low RPM. Both in town and on the highway, the new four-cylinder feels faster than the old six-cylinder without giving up any of the smoothness. The power and delivery are very well-matched to the vehicle and make it a great daily driver. For the average driver, it's perfect, but for the enthusiast, it's a bit of a letdown. Winding out the inline-six made the X1 nearly as fun to drive as a lower-trim 3 Series. But then, enthusiasts won't be angling for an X1 -- they'll just buy the 3 Series, so it's a moot point. The six-speed manual is nice, too, but as I'm sure you've already guessed, we won't be getting that in America. We didn't drive the eight-speed automatic model, but experience with other BMWs tells us it's a fine transmission and we don't expect any issues.
Catch the entire review at Motor Trend


Name:  x1.jpg
Views: 9926
Size:  53.2 KB

Appreciate 0