A test drive could have done once, maybe twice or even thrice. 23! Yes, 23 is the no. of times this BEAST has been tamed by us. Call it Love, Lust or Addiction this has been our relationship with the ‘Ultimate Driving Machine’
During the spring of 2011, one fine afternoon we had a joint date with this angry young woman at the corner café of BMW motors. She was there sitting in a sparkling white dress with eyes glued at us indicating we come closer. The late night transformer movie had its hangover effect on us. The eyes took the shape of the classic Corona Rings, the body forming sharp curves, nose becoming the Kidney Grille and there she stood all of a sudden transformed in to the BMW 3 Series.
Having seen the 3 from outside we decided to step in. The aroma from the leather, the black glossy panel flowing across the dashboard and the trademark I Drive infotainment system were all there placed so perfectly. It had this elegant yet so simple layout. The consultant sitting next to us proclaimed saying “This is the best driver’s compact sedan ever made” and so have we heard. We decided to put it to the test. Let’s see what happens then.
Finger reaches the Start button and all the 4 cylinders fires up in perfect harmony, right foot goes down flooring the accelerator pedal and leaves a trail of Pirelli tyres. But hey isn’t this supposed to be a compact executive sedan and be boring to drive? Make no mistake this is a BMW and they claim it’s an executive sport sedan. And yes that WOW! still remains in our minds till date. Through the busy streets of Bangalore it felt much civilised at low speeds and one thing we immediately noticed is the low ground clearance which doesn’t suit most Indian roads but on the other hand if it were more, then it would be a compromise on the handling.
Done with city driving we decided to break the shackles. Bang goes the throttle again and the feel of the acceleration has become an addiction ever since and that’s the motivation behind test driving that car 22 times more till date. 0 to 100kmph takes about 7.8 Seconds making it one of the fastest accelerating executive sedans in India.
As we drove along that open tarmac @140kmph, we found a fast right handed corner. At this point of time you usually see the sales person beside you petrified and asking you to slowdown before the curve but surprisingly No! He asked us to floor the pedal and assuredthat the car can easily handle this curve at a higher speed and so we did, the speedo hits 160
kmph and the steering felt so crisp and the vehicle so planted which left us wondering what made this car do so. The obsession of BMW’s 50-50 weight distribution between the front and back had come alive and we experienced this obsession in our own hands. The best handler we have driven so far!
I guess you would have figured it out what we were about to do next, we wanted to experience how a rear wheel drive car lets it tail out when taking a turn aggressively and to our belief it did spin a perfect 180 degree resulting in a wide grin on our faces and of course the salesman too. All this having shut off the Traction Control option.
We then hit the nearest expressway to see how fast this ‘Angry Young Woman’ can go and soon we were comfortably doing 170 kmph at which point the salesman reminded us about the sport mode, hands grabbed the gear lever to sport mode and foot stretched a bit more and speedo hit 215 kmph and even at that speed it felt so confident, we were informed that eventually it will do about 230 kmph on Indian Roads.
I am sure many of would remember your first love, your first date and your first kiss. This to us was something beyond. This date with the 3 would never be forgotten till we meet ‘An Angrier young woman’!
On our way back we started inspecting other elements apart from the drive, we noticed that the rear seat is actually bit cramped for space, the legroom and knee room isn’t great especially for a car costing upwards of 3 million rupees and the rear seats aren’t too supportive either and then comes a huge hump in the middle making it literally impossible for the third person to sit at the rear, courtesy the transmission tunnel for the rear wheel drive system, so practically it’s a 4 seater and not a 5 seater. But who cares as long as you have you have the wheel on one hand and your love on the other!
Watch out for the BMW 3 video here - http://www.youtube.com/motorkind
No comments:
Post a Comment