2017 BMW 7-Series plug-in hybrid (Euro-spec)

After 120,000 miles divided among a 2012 BMW 328i sedan, a 2014 BMW 328d xDrive wagon, and a 2015 BMW M3, we’re ready for a respite from the sixth-generation 3-series. Each one of those recent long-termers left us cold: too disconnected, too expensive, or too flinty, but most of all, just short of totally satisfying. BMW’s quest to adapt the 3-series for mass-market appeal has watered down our decades-long love for the car that once combined control, practicality, and fun like no other.

Instead of hunting for the ghosts of BMW past with yet another long-term 3-series, we’ve redirected our focus toward a 2016 BMW 740i. We’ll spend 40,000 miles determining if BMW’s apparent new priorities—luxury and comfort before sport—have been perfected in the company’s flagship. 

Specifications

VEHICLE TYPE:
front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

PRICE AS TESTED:
$96,095 (base price: $82,295)

ENGINE TYPE:
turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve inline-6, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection

Displacement:
183 cu in, 2998 cc
Power: 320 hp @ 6500 rpm
Torque: 330 lb-ft @ 1380 rpm

TRANSMISSION:
8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 126.4 in
Length: 206.6 in
Width: 74.9 in Height: 58.2 in
Passenger volume: 115 cu ft
Cargo volume: 18 cu ft
Curb weight: 4385 lb

PERFORMANCE: NEW

Zero to 60 mph: 4.8 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 11.9 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 21.6 sec
Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 5.6 sec
Top gear, 30-50 mph: 2.9 sec
Top gear, 50-70 mph: 3.5 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 13.4 sec @ 105 mph
Top speed (mfr's est.): 155 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 159 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.86 g

FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA city/highway driving: 21/29 mpg
C/D observed: 26 mpg
Unscheduled oil additions: 0 qt

WARRANTY:

4 years/50,000 miles bumper to bumper;
12 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;
4 years/unlimited miles roadside assistance;
4 years/50,000 miles scheduled maintenance

2017 Audi R8 Review

The software makes the difference.

First Drive Review

The transmission plays a vital part in this Jekyll-and-Hyde trick, with the seven-speed dual-clutch ’box having been tweaked—digitally, of course—to deliver faster and more forceful upshifts under hard use, along with some nifty rev-matching when you downshift. Yet left in drive in Comfort mode, it’s practically a 1970s-style waft-o-matic, shuffling its ratios both intelligently and seamlessly. The chassis coped with everything Portugal could throw at it with something close to disdain—the biggest bumps didn’t unsettle it, even with the adjustable dampers in their firmest setting—and yet it also was completely unruffled by both the low-quality urban streets and some high-speed cruising on the Autoestrada.

The biggest mechanical change between the first R8 and this one is the arrival of an electronically controlled clutch to divert torque to the front axle, in place of the previous viscous coupling. This is much faster-acting; Audi engineers claim it can go from fully free to locked in just a tenth of a second, and it is set up to divert torque to maximize traction and stability. The result is more adhesion—much more—but far less of the rear-driven feeling the first R8’s slower responses gave it, especially at low speed. Grip, like bacon, is something that some people earnestly believe you can’t have too much of, but at the sort of speeds you’re ever likely to see on public roads the R8 just grasps and goes, the driveline working to maximize traction all the time. It’s blisteringly fast—but definitely not as playful as its sometimes-wayward predecessor.  

With the generosity that comes from having a PR budget to rival Greece’s national debt, Audi also booked exclusive use of the excellent Autódromo Internacional Algarve near Portimão—a circuit that, although little used for actual racing, can claim to be one of Europe’s finest for driving. Audi inhibits the stability-control switches of its cars on media launches, so we can’t regale you with stories of generous doses of opposite lock and heroic drifting, but the Performance mode’s most aggressive “Dry” setting allows enough slip to prove the chassis remains neutral even under heavier track loadings. It’s possible to make the rear slide under power, but the car will immediately divert torque to the front wheels to try to pull itself straight; it’s prepared to tighten its line a little on an eased throttle, like a Porsche, but the governing motto is always to keep everything on a tight leash.

The steering dealt with Portugal’s roads far better than it did the track at Le Mans. There’s never an abundance of feedback, but responses are keen and the ratio-tweaking is rarely noticeable. That said, we did spend most of our time in Dynamic mode, which we later found out locks the steering ratio at a fixed 13:1. Yet the steering is accurate and delivers instant response, whichever mode it’s in. It’s just a shame it has lost the voluble communication that made the first R8 such a chatty companion.

A final point: Don’t automatically assume that the Plus’s extra 70 horsepower makes it the one to plow your next lottery win into. After driving both the Plus and the standard car on the road, we really didn’t notice any significant performance advantage from the additional power. The Plus also brings fixed-back shell sports seats that will be too tight for many and has a fixed carbon-fiber rear wing in place of the standard V10’s more subtle pop-up one. 

Siblings, But Not Rivals

Even knowing how similar the R8 and Huracán are beneath the surface, they don’t feel like rivals, a clever trick pulled off by their respective engineering teams. The Lamborghini is the more exciting car, no question—harder, angrier, and (we suspect) slightly faster, even though the engine in the R8 V10 Plus is in an identical state of tune. From an outsider’s perspective, the fact the Audi will do pretty much the same for what we’re estimating to be a $60,000 to $70,000 discount might look like a big problem, but Lamborghini’s marketing department is probably more concerned by the fact that the $241,000 Huracán has the legs on the $404,000 Aventador.

The R8 is definitely the better all-arounder, with a far greater range of talents than its Italian sister. It’s a viable everyday cruiser, as civilized at lower speeds as a TT or A5 coupe, yet it’s also a thrilling supercar-humbler in its own right. And it’s one with an engine that, somewhere in the electron-driven future that awaits us all, we likely will look back on as one of the all-time greats. If you’re looking for a do-anything sports car, the R8 is going to be hard to beat.

Bugatti Chiron Review

With the Bugatti Veyron’s top-speed records, a price tag over $1 million, and distinctive melted-scoop-of-ice-cream styling, it was an instant rolling superlative when it debuted in 2005. Its successor, the new Chiron, is even more of a record- and headline-grabbing show pony. Is it faster? A 310-mph (500 km/h) speedometer and Bugatti’s claim that it’ll do 261 mph say it is.

Never mind that there are few places in the world where anyone could achieve 261 mph, and even fewer owners who will ever attempt the feat, what could hypercars such as the Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918 Spyder, or McLaren P1 offer in retort? That their top speeds are lower, they’re less comfortable, or, critically, that they’re—gulp—cheaper? The Chiron’s game is to be so unattainable, so unimaginable, so magical as to reestablish Bugatti as the ultimate automotive accouterment for those who measure their cash reserves not by face value but with a yardstick.
Make Bugatti Great Again

Bugatti says the 4400-pound Chiron is “the world’s first production sports car with 1500 hp.” It’s best to simply shelve any expectations of modesty on Bugatti’s part. After all, when the car you’re replacing produced 1200 horsepower, hit 258 mph, and cost more than $2 million, adding an extra 300 horsepower, 3 mph of governed top speed, and half a million to the window sticker matters. Oh, and just 500 will be made, because nobody wants a mass-produced $2.6-million car.

Between Bugatti’s braggadocio and posturing, there are real improvements to the Veyron’s formula. Does it matter that, if every strand of carbon fiber in its new central tub were laid end to end, they’d “stretch nine times the distance between the earth and the moon”? No, and we pity the Bugatti employee charged with checking the arithmetic on that factoid. But it is indicative of a real effort to reduce—or at least hold the line on—the Chiron’s weight relative to that of the somewhat pudgy Veyron. All of that carbon fiber—the body panels also are made of the stuff—helps keep the Chiron right around the same weight as the 4486-pound Veyron, despite being 3.2 inches longer, 1.6 inches wider, and 0.3 inch taller. Bugatti further claims that the Chiron’s structure is as stiff as those underpinning LMP1 racing prototypes.

 At the risk of sounding beguiled, the styling of the Chiron is notably more fetching than that of the Veyron. The C-shaped curve carved into each side of the body recalls Bugatti’s 1930s-era art-deco masterpieces, the Type 57 Atlantic and Atalante, as does the spear running down the car’s spine. The all-mesh tail appears to belong to a different car, but the surfaces bending and flowing beyond it are nearly beautiful. Up front, Bugatti’s horseshoe-shaped grille remains—stamped with a badge rendered from five ounces of silver—and is flanked by quad-LED headlights. Moving aerodynamic elements range from a hydraulically operated diffuser, front splitters, and a four-position rear spoiler/wing that can sit flush with the rear bodywork, extend slightly (the setting for top-speed runs), fully extend, or fully extend and tilt in its air-brake setting. The underbody is totally smooth save for NACA ducts that gulp air for cooling the engine, the transaxle, and the rear brakes.
What’s an Extra 3 mph?

When chasing top-speed honors, horsepower matters. Even so, there are diminishing returns in the fight against the atmosphere at higher speeds. The Chiron’s redesigned 8.0-liter quad-turbocharged W-16 engine produces 1500 horsepower, 300 more than the outgoing Veyron Super Sport—and yet it tacks only another 3 mph onto that car’s top speed, and only eight more atop the 1001-hp Veyron 16.4’s 253-mph max. Bugatti has tuned the Chiron’s four turbochargers to work sequentially, with two operating at low engine speeds for better response before the other two take over above roughly 3800 rpm for maximum power. Down the line, there no doubt will be additional variations on the Chiron theme that add precious miles per hour to the top speed.

Exhaust is routed from the turbos to a new titanium exhaust that Bugatti claims weighs 44 pounds, which is “extremely light compared with similar [16-cylinder] units.” Perhaps the automaker is referring to the chrome stacks on semi trucks, because it also proudly describes two of the catalytic converters as being “six times as large as [those] fitted to a medium-sized car” and boasts that the total exhaust-scrubbing area of all six catalytic converters is greater than that of 30 soccer fields. This should give you some idea of the level of emissions produced by an 8.0-liter 16-cylinder engine.

 At the risk of sounding beguiled, the styling of the Chiron is notably more fetching than that of the Veyron. The C-shaped curve carved into each side of the body recalls Bugatti’s 1930s-era art-deco masterpieces, the Type 57 Atlantic and Atalante, as does the spear running down the car’s spine. The all-mesh tail appears to belong to a different car, but the surfaces bending and flowing beyond it are nearly beautiful. Up front, Bugatti’s horseshoe-shaped grille remains—stamped with a badge rendered from five ounces of silver—and is flanked by quad-LED headlights. Moving aerodynamic elements range from a hydraulically operated diffuser, front splitters, and a four-position rear spoiler/wing that can sit flush with the rear bodywork, extend slightly (the setting for top-speed runs), fully extend, or fully extend and tilt in its air-brake setting. The underbody is totally smooth save for NACA ducts that gulp air for cooling the engine, the transaxle, and the rear brakes.
What’s an Extra 3 mph?

When chasing top-speed honors, horsepower matters. Even so, there are diminishing returns in the fight against the atmosphere at higher speeds. The Chiron’s redesigned 8.0-liter quad-turbocharged W-16 engine produces 1500 horsepower, 300 more than the outgoing Veyron Super Sport—and yet it tacks only another 3 mph onto that car’s top speed, and only eight more atop the 1001-hp Veyron 16.4’s 253-mph max. Bugatti has tuned the Chiron’s four turbochargers to work sequentially, with two operating at low engine speeds for better response before the other two take over above roughly 3800 rpm for maximum power. Down the line, there no doubt will be additional variations on the Chiron theme that add precious miles per hour to the top speed.

Exhaust is routed from the turbos to a new titanium exhaust that Bugatti claims weighs 44 pounds, which is “extremely light compared with similar [16-cylinder] units.” Perhaps the automaker is referring to the chrome stacks on semi trucks, because it also proudly describes two of the catalytic converters as being “six times as large as [those] fitted to a medium-sized car” and boasts that the total exhaust-scrubbing area of all six catalytic converters is greater than that of 30 soccer fields. This should give you some idea of the level of emissions produced by an 8.0-liter 16-cylinder engine.

Inside Thoughts

The Chiron’s interior has been completely redesigned and seems to have been given nearly as much thought as figuring out how to make a 4400-pound chunk of carbon fiber and metal hurtle through the atmosphere at more than 200 mph. The aesthetic is spare yet clearly upscale. A glowing rib echoing the external “spine” sweeps down the middle of the cabin and is said to be “the longest light conductor used in the automobile industry.” A waterfall of simple aluminum dials for the climate system pours down a gleaming aluminum strip supported by carbon-fiber ribbing, while infotainment and navigation duties are handled by a pair of screens flanking the analog speedometer. The entire gauge pod, in fact, is an incredible piece of sculpture that is milled from billet aluminum.

Whatever isn’t slathered in leather or hewn from aluminum is covered in carbon fiber. The audio system is provided by Accuton, and it can be tuned to account for any of the 31 different leather choices and eight microsuede options for the interior. (Have you ever heard the reverb produced by soft Corinthian leather? Ask Ricardo Montalban.) And whether or not Bugatti is lobbing a pun when it says that the one-carat diamond membrane in each of the four tweeters deliver “crystal-clear sound,” we’re pretty sure the point is that there are diamonds in the speakers. For Chiron customers with Louis Vuitton–brand tinfoil hats, Bugatti says the car has “an extremely high level of electromagnetic compatibility” borne out by tests of an unspecified military standard.

Awestruck yet? There’s little doubt that the Chiron trumps even the mighty Veyron in the jaw-slackening department. The Chiron is undoubtedly an engineering triumph and the pinnacle of immoderation; the masses should be properly enthralled. Most critically, so should those with the considerable means to purchase one.

Peugeot RCZ review

The weight of brilliant Peugeots from the past has worn heavily on the shoulders of Peugeot’s executives during recent years. Its cars – from the company once famous for ‘the drive of your life’, you’ll remember – have lately struggled to offer the best drive you’ve had that day. And Peugeot has known it, meaning a great deal is expected of the RCZ.

It is a car that Peugeot acknowledges and hopes will mark a turning point: that from here on in, it will be making interesting cars that are entertaining to drive.

To a small extent, the tide has already turned. The 3008 and 5008 have both featured chassis dynamics that are a marked step-up from, say, the 207 and 307. It’s a trait that has continued with the new 508.

The RCZ, though, is meant to represent a marked progression again. Peugeot calls this the first of a new range of ‘special cars’ meant to add an edge of exclusiveness to a French marque better known for big-selling small cars.

This is the car, and the point in time, from which it would like us to judge its future product.

How significant does Peugeot think the RCZ is? Put it this way: in its history, it has until now never created a passenger car that doesn’t have a ‘0’ or two in the middle of its name.

You won’t find it in Peugeot’s written information, but the design inspiration for the RCZ coupé seems clear enough to us. Peugeot hopes this car will do for it what the TT did for Audi. And with those sweeping chrome bars that seamlessly meld its A-pillars into its roof and then into its B-pillars, the design similarities are fairly clear.

Along with that, though, comes a sense of Peugeot identity: the Peugeot nose is clear enough, and the tail, too, plus some of the detailing. It’s Peugeot’s take on the small 2+2 coupé, rather than just a pure clone.

Design success is rather subjective, but we’re particularly fond of the double-bubble roof and rear window. The window looks horrendously expensive to replace, but they’re details that have made it over unscathed from the 308 RCZ concept of 2007.

Unfortunately, the low roofline means that, even with the clever-shaped glass, there is very little rear passenger space. The kink in the window line looks good, but it’s also essential as a way to drop the waistline and allow enough glass area in a small cockpit.

The pop-up rear spoiler has two phases. The first is set at 19deg and deploys automatically at 53mph, retracting again at 34mph. The fully extended position settles at 34deg and deploys above 96mph. The wing can also be controlled by the driver.

The RCZ’s body is 30mm wider than the standard 308 hatch’s, as well as being lower. More important, its tracks are 44mm wider at the front and 63mm wider at the rear.


In creating a car that looks this radical on the outside yet costs from the low end of £21k, Peugeot has had to compromise. On the RCZ, this has occurred underneath the skin with its 308 platform, but also in its interior.

Inside, the 308 still dominates. The general cabin architecture and even some details are straight out of the hatchback. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but next to an Audi TT, whose bespoke interior was good enough to be the inspiration for the R8’s, it’s a mite disappointing. There are, however, some highlights.

In GT specification, leather is standard on the front and rear seats, and it can be extended to the upper part of the dashboard with an integral leather pack.

This contrasts markedly with some plastics that are straight from the 308 line, particularly around the steering wheel shroud (noticeable because it’s otherwise well finished around here) and on the lower transmission tunnel. On the whole, though, it’s a well-finished interior and more than acceptable at the price.

The driving position is fine, too, with no pedal offsets and a steering wheel that has a massive range of adjustment (although the wheel itself could be smaller on a sporting car like this).

What you won’t find is much room in the RCZ’s rear. This is strictly a 2+2 coupé. Access to the rear bench is tight, and once you get there, it’s less than accommodating. The backrest is very upright and the squab small. It’s roomier than an Audi TT and those bumps in the roof do add a little to headroom, but for anything other than the shortest of trips, it’s best avoided.

The bench backrest folds down to increase the boot volume from 384 to 760 litres, but because it’s an enclosed boot rather than a hatch, the RCZ is less practical than a TT or VW Scirocco.

BMW i8 Review

The BMW i8 is ready to revolutionise its vehicle class. As the first sports car with the consumption and emission values of a compact car. The strength of the plug-in hybrid lies, among other factors, in the perfect synchronisation of electric motor and combustion engine, which makes itself apparent in maximum efficiency and dynamics on the road. The first sports car that even accelerates the zeitgeist.

Progress in motion: a vehicle that fascinates. With innovative LifeDrive architecture, ground-breaking materials such as carbon, layering design and numerous intelligent BMW EfficientDynamics measures. Discover the BMW i8 in action.

Every great pioneering achievement has its own story. In the case of the BMW i8, it begins in 2008 with the launch of Project i – and with no lesser objective than the reinvention of urban mobility. Just one year later, the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept showed what a technology leader geared fully toward energy saving can look like. This was the basis that gave rise to the BMW Concept i8, which demonstrated in near-production-ready form where the development would lead. All available BMW EfficientDynamics technologies were already united within this vehicle, an intelligent lightweight concept had been implemented, and the idea of a sports car for the future was already detectable. Series production of the BMW i8 marks the current peak of the development: a plug-in hybrid with the appearance and the breathtaking performance of a sports car, which at the same time exhibits the consumption and emissions of a compact car. And thus convincingly resolves the apparent contradiction between efficiency and dynamics.

Through its overall concept, the BMW i8 embodies the accomplished vision of a modern and sustainable sports car. The highly emotive design instantly shows which qualities the BMW i8 has to offer. Yet it doesn’t rely entirely on its sports car character. Its aesthetics also pursue functional aims: more aerodynamics for maximum efficiency.

The BMW i8 offers far more than pure athleticism. With its unique drive concept, it essentially reinvents the idea of sporting mobility. This is because the powerful plug-in hybrid system with the combination of BMW eDrive technology and a BMW TwinPower Turbo 1.5-litre, 3-cylinder petrol engine brings together the benefits of an electric motor and a petrol engine to produce an outstanding driving experience.