MOTORING
Six
Diesel has become a dirty word. Despite years of Government advice that drivers should buy fuel-sipping diesels instead of gas-guzzling petrol cars, those that did are now waiting to see how much they will be punished for the nitrous oxide and soot that their exhausts pump into the atmosphere. But BMW recently launched its
latest iteration of the X6 and I have to admit I was more than happy to have it on my drive. The X6 has always been one of
my favourite BMWs and I’m pleased to say that superficially the German marque does not appear to have tinkered too much with this latest model. While older diesel cars have
come under the spotlight for their nitrous oxide and excessive particulates emissions (blame VW for the uproar for trying to cheat its way through stringent NOx testing, particularly in the
from a big 4x4. But… the emissions figure is
just 183g/km and even a moderate right foot should be rewarded with over 41mpg economy. And this BMW is euro-6
emissions-compliant, which means it shouldn’t be hit by those threatened punitive ‘toxin taxes’.
Although it has not yet been
made clear at what level the ‘toxin taxes’ will be introduced, or how, the current expectation is that towns and cities will penalise drivers whose cars were
64 business network December 2017/January 2018
of the best
‘Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated’ Author Mark Twain, 1897 - Diesel as a fuel, 2017.
Diesel is not dead. And BMW’s newest X6 is proof that there is life in the old dog yet. Nick Jones was more than happy to have this particular oil-burner on his drive for a week.
USA) this latest BMW is not only green, it’s also surprisingly clean. My test car was fitted with a whopping 4.0-litre diesel engine, delivering 313bhp and whipping past 60mph from a standing start in under six seconds on its way to a top speed, where permitted, of 155mph. That’s sports car performance
‘Even though I like powerful cars, I found the 313 horses under my right boot more than enough to hustle the X6 along’
registered before 1 January 2011, ie, those that are euro-4 compliant or earlier. It may be that the ‘toxin taxes’
will be imposed by way of increased costs for street parking permits for older diesel cars or ‘congestion charge’-style fees for driving into towns and cities. If that’s the case, then this new
BMW X6 should be clean enough to avoid ‘toxin taxes’. But enough about what might
happen. If we’re looking at the here and now, the X6 is a car that puts fun back into driving. As said, I was testing the 4.0-
litre version. But there is also a 258bhp 3.0-litre turbo-diesel model and an M-tuned 5.0-litre version that produces 376bhp and if you need even more poke
then you could always opt for the petrol xDrive50i – with a twin- turbo 4.4-litre V8 engine producing 444bhp. But I’ll be honest, even though
I like powerful cars, I found the 313 horses under my right boot more than enough to hustle the X6 along. The power is delivered so
seamlessly through the eight- speed automatic gearbox that you barely feel the changes. There are paddles behind the
steering wheel if you want to force changes, but I found the ‘power’ mode setting was more than adequate to keep the engine primed for optimum performance. Unlike some large 4x4s, the X6 does not feel top-heavy, it
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