The new SAVvyy

Most of the cars that come to India have a lot of pre-launch events, shows and carry out a lot of promotional stunts to get the attention of the mass. Take for example the Etios (Toyota), which I know more for its tantalising advertisements than for any comments or reviews by the likes of any automobile journalist. But this is one car that came quietly into the market, that too in around the celebratory time of the new-year, without any pomp-n-show but still can manage to impress one and all. The all new BMW X1. Very few people must be knowing about it. “ Oh, another fuel guzzling, massive, overpriced SUV from the German yard ”, must be obvious thought that comes to our mind (provided U know that BMW is German and X stands for its SUV segment). But my dear, none of these is correct, not even the SUV part.

“ The BMW X1 has finally debuted in India and it is touted to be a market shaker “ – quotes zigwheels. And I do agree to it. First of all, it does not fit into the SUV category snugly for various reasons, and in no way is close to a sedan. So the critics have come up with this term SAV (Sports Activity Vehicle) X1 being  one of them. Its not a soft-roader either. It’s kind of BMW’s own  3-series sedan moulded into the shape of an SUV with some tweaks.” Step into the X1 and the cabin looks familiar to that of the 3-series saloon. “ – AutocarIndia. Looks are pretty decent, and I would leave it upto you to further give your own judgement on it.

Looks like a Sedan fron the front, Thums Up

With a four cylinder, 2000 cc engine, it churns out the power of a 177 horses. Now with a weight of around 1800 Kgs, its Power-to-Weight ratio turns out to around 10. Impressive, isin’t it. It has got 17’ alloys run flat tyres, and all this combined can take to gentle monster to speeds of over 200 kmph. Impressed yet???. And even if U are not, read this – “ It boasts of an ARAI tested average fuel consumption of 15 kilometers to the liter. As per our tests the X1 returns an average of 9.8 kmpl in the city and 14 kmpl on the highway “- zigwheels. Now, the real figures that I believe is around 12 kmpl on highway and 8 kmpl in city (sources, BMW website forum), which is still quite unexpected from a BMW. Even with so much to offer, it is very strategically priced at Rs. 24 Lakhs (base diesel model). Which is almost the same as that of a Honda CR-V petrol. The high-end version comes at a “not so high being a BMW” price of Rs. 32 Lakhs, but comes with additional specs and luxuries like i-Drive system, sunroof and Xenon lights. This one would have definitely got your attention now.

 Now, speaking of the competition it might face, after looking at all the facts, the domain shrinks to all the soft-roaders in the market, vis-à-vis, Toyota Fortuner, Honda CR-V and Chevrolet Captiva (all being 5 seaters). But on a closer look, we can leave out the Toyota and the Chevrolet without any concern. The reason, Fortuner being of 3L engine segment, and the Chevvy due to its absence from roads and minds of India :-P and its lower price. Though the fact remains that, the high price of CR-V owes to the fact that it is imported as a wholly finished product into India and also the delivery time of the car is about 3 weeks or more, it’s Honda’s business to look after this. People won’t go soft on that.

The only place where the CR-V scores over the German is its all time 4-WD specification in one model. In terms of engine, CR-V has a 2.4 L petrol 4 cyliner DOHC iV-tec engine giving  160 bhp and max speed of about 160 kmph delivering an avg. mileage of around 8 kmph. Now the X1 is 2.0 L diesel 4 cylinder inline CRDi engine giving 177 bhp and max speed of 200 kmph and avg. mileage of around 11 kmph. “Where the X1 scores over the rest of its kind is in the handling department. The vehicle is precise and can be pushed through corners like nobody's business.” – zigwheels. X1’s ground clearance is also higher than the CR-V by a significant 10 cm, good for Indian roads. Also, some features like the moon roof, rear cup holder, multi-functional steering wheel and rain-sensing wipers are present in X1 which are missing in CR-V.

 To sum it all up, besides being the cheapest BMW in India, It also leaves all its competitors far behind. And is a definite yes to all the people who are looking for a complete SUV. With a sedan-type look from the front, a monster from behind, and a premium from inside, it has definitely captured my mind. And hopefully, will be often seen on the Indian roads. But the truth remains, no one beats the Scorpio :-P. Goodbye…