Crossing Compacts; Bimmmer and Lexus

THE MEGATRENDS ARE PLAIN ENOUGH: Increasing urbanization and traffic density select for smaller personal-vehicle size, globally, over time. Also putting the potential squeeze on vehicle dimensions, big picture, are spiraling carbon-emission standards due to the relationship between vehicles’ weight and the energy required to move them.

And yet there is no such contraction in consumer expectations for a safe, comfortable, versatile five-passenger vehicle with optional all-wheel drive and reasonable operation costs, across a range of prices. There are only so many ways for product planners to respond to that brief.

Rumble Seat columnist Dan Neil joins Lunch Break’s Tanya Rivero to tell us all about the latest BMW. Photo: BMW

So the explosive growth in a vehicle type known as the compact crossover SUV. These little guys offer the raised seating position (H point) consumers love, with higher sightlines and vehicle ground clearance, with the stability and versatility of a car-based wagon (mostly). Some estimates have the segment growing 20% by 2021. At that rate Americans will be issued one at birth.

All the recent panting has been in the profits-rich import-luxury end of the pool, with the arrival of tiny Germans: The dead-cool, rakish Mercedes-Benz GLA; the burgermeister Audi Q3; Porsche Macan; and—seen here—one of our test cars for the week, BMW X4 xDrive35i, which is a raked-roof version of the BMW X3 with a 300-hp, turbocharged inline six.

Fresh off the boat is our other test car: the Lexus NX200t F Sport AWD, a highly evolved version of the Toyota RAV4, powered by a hardworking turbo four and smothered with as much Lexus lather as can be raised. Although they look different, the BMW X4 xDrive35i and Lexus NX200t F Sport AWD are two flavors of the same sweet spot in the market.

Compact Crossovers: The Best of the Rest

In the market for a compact crossover from a premium brand, with optional AWD and good gas mileage, under $50,000? You have a lot of company— check out that mall parking lot!—and a lot of choices. Here is a selection of this year’s most urbane little utes.

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2015 Acura RDX ($35,095-$40,195) |

Audi Q5 ($38,900-$54,500) | Powertrain: Gas turbocharged 2.0-liter, 220-hp inline four; gas supercharged 3.0-liter, 272-hp V6; diesel turbocharged 3.0-liter, 240 hp V6; gas-electric hybrid 2.0-liter inline four and three-phase AC motor/generator (54hp), system net 245 hp. Eight-speed automatic transmission and AWD. Fuel economy: 18/26/21 mpg, city/highway/combined (Q5 3.0 TFSI V-6). Best feature: impeccable cabin as per Audi’s usual with intuitive infotainment, superb seats and a nice steering wheel. Worst feature: Tick all the boxes and you can blow through $60,000, easy. AUDI OF AMERICA

Infiniti QX50 AWD ($36,400) | Powertrain: Naturally aspirated 3.7-liter, 325-hp V6; seven-speed automatic transmission with AWD. Fuel economy: 17/24 mpg, city/highway. Best feature: a tie, between rear-drive biased AWD system and yet another handsomely turned out Infiniti cabin. Worst feature: Feels a bit dated in this company. INFINITI

Mercedes-Benz GLA250 4Matic ($33,300) | Powertrain: Turbocharged 2.0-liter, 208-hp inline four cylinder; seven-speed dual clutch automatic, AWD. Fuel economy: 24/32 mpg, city/highway. Best feature: At 60 inches high the GLA is pretty sleek, with narrow windows and a sexy roofline. Worst feature: with 17.2 cubic feet of storage behind the seats, the GLA’s utility is compromised by all the rakishness. MERCEDES-BENZ USA

Porsche Macan S ($49,900) | Powertrain: Naturally aspirated 3.0-liter, 340-hp V-6; seven-speed, dual-clutch automatic, AWD. Fuel economy: 17/23 mpg, city/highway. Best feature:Among compact crossovers, the AWD Macan S, along with the BMW X4 xDrive35i, is probably the most sports-minded and fun to drive. Worst feature: The Macan S excels at all the things for which people lose their licenses. PORSCHE CARS NORTH AMERICA

Range Rover Evoque ($41,100) | Powertrain: Turbocharged 2.0-liter, 240-hp inline four; nine-speed automatic transmission and 4WD. Fuel economy: 21/30/24 mpg, city/highway/combined. Best feature: The huge visual energy created by the upswept beltline and tapering roof, resulting in a dead-sexy silhouette while still retaining a useful 20.3 cubic feet of storage behind the rear seats. Worst feature: The Evoque comes with pavement-centric tires. To really get your money’s worth out of the Evoque, you need snow tires. And snow, of course.JAGUAR LAND ROVER NORTH AMERICA

Lincoln MKC ($33,100-$39,965) | Powertrain: Turbocharged 2.0-liter, 240-hp inline four cylinder; 2.3-liter, 285-hp inline four cylinder; six-speed automatic transmission, part-time AWD. Fuel economy: 18/26/21, city/highway/combined (MKC AWD). Best feature: A very competitive package, offering a lot of available telematics and driver assist’y stuff with design that puts Lincoln on the consideration list for the first time in donkey’s years. Worst feature: It will forever by known as ‘The McConaughey.’ DAN NEIL/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Beauty Is on the Inside | BMW X4 xDrive35i

BMW is coloring in market white space like a crazed preschooler. The German giant, fully ensconced in North America at its sheds in Spartanburg, S.C., offers an array of like-size cars that vary only subtly in metrics like overall height, H point—H for “hip,” or seating elevation above the ground—as well as the character of the roofline silhouette: sedan, coupe, wagon, even “Gran Coupe,” milady.

Consider BMW’s SUV-ish specimens: X1, X3, X4, X5, X6. They all look sort of different, but they all sort of taste the same. Like pasta.

The X4—a “sport-activity coupe,” according to BMW—is a nut-and-bolt replicant of the X3 “sport-activity vehicle,” except the X4 is a fastback, with a roof 1.5 inches lower (63.9 inches) than the X3s, landing with coupe-y authority at a stubby aero deck. SAC, really? OK, you’re the engineer.

BMW X4 XDRIVE35I

ENLARGE

BMW X4 xDrive35i BMW OF NORTH AMERICA

Price, as tested: $65,000

Powertrain: Turbocharged direct-injection 3.0-liter DOHC inline six-cylinder with variable valve control; eight-speed multi-mode automatic transmission; all-wheel drive

Horsepower/torque: 300 hp at 5,800-6,000 rpm/300 lb-ft from 1,200-5,000 rpm

Length/height/weight: 184.3 inches/63.9 inches/4,260 pounds

Wheelbase: 110.6 inches

0-60 mph: 5.2 seconds

EPA fuel eco: 19/27/22 mpg, cty/hgh/comb

Cargo capacity: 17.7/49.4 cubic feet (rear seats up/folded)

The slick-ification of the X3’s roofline has the expected effects: The X4 has less head room, front and rear, less rear shoulder room and less cargo capacity, though the boot is a still-generous 17.7 cubic feet (49.4 with rear seats folded). At 4,260 pounds the X4 xDrive35i is a bit heavier than the comparable X3, and it’s $2,500 ($48,000 base price) more than the X3. SAC, indeed.

I think, as an aesthetic matter, the X4 comes dangerously close to being adorable, a kind of shaved-tail, neonatal quality that happens when designers aim the shrink ray at a successful larger vehicle, in this case BMW’s midsize X6. The exterior has a lot going on at the front end, resulting in the collision of the fog-light insets and the bumper-breathing lower grille. Also, the X4 has a couple of swage lines along the fuselage with an unfortunate Mercedes-ness to them.

The why of the X4 is elusive until you climb into the driver’s seat, where a display of BMW’s handsome, rational interior experience awaits you, lined in lustrous aluminum interior trim, nice wood veneers, French stitched-leather dash and door gussets and the best switchgear in the business.

The X4 offers the choice of the company’s exemplary 2.0-liter, 240-hp turbocharged four cylinder (xDrive28i); or the suave, sonorous, rpm-blissed turbo 3.0-liter inline motor, putting out 300 hp and 300 pound-feet of torque as low as 1,200 rpm. Both engines are paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. According to the company, the 2.0-liter reaches 60 mph in 6 seconds, while the 3.0-liter gets there in 5.2 seconds.

The X4 xDrive35i comes standard with BMW’s adroit, rear-biased all-wheel drive, with the Dynamic Stability Control baked into the software, liaising with the electric-assisted dynamic steering and smart brakes. Buyers who want more feel in handling can get dynamic suspension control.

It all starts to add up. A fully kitted example, with the M Line’s glorious Melbourne red paint, 20-inch wheels and ivory hides, priced out at $62,250 through the consumer website.

I’m not persuaded by the X4 over its siblings. The X3’s packaging is more practical, the roofline less compromised (sight lines, rear passenger ingress), and the X3 is entertaining enough to drive. The X4 is impossible not to like, taking everything good about the X3 xDrive35i and giving it a tick better center of gravity. But the why refuses to stay in focus.

Making a more aerodynamic hedgehog does not necessarily result in a better hedgehog.

The Engine of Change | Lexus NX200t AWD F Sport

If BMW’s hyper-niche X4 fastback asks the question: Why? The Lexus NX2300t prompts the question: What took so long? The midsize Lexus RX has led U.S. crossover sales practically since Toyota’s luxury division introduced it, in 1998. A baby brother seems late arriving.

Now that it is here, the actual car—built on the foundations of the Toyota RAV4—is a challenging bit of drafting, not everyone’s cup of hemlock. Indeed, for some it may require full-on grief counseling. Nearly the entire nose of the NX200t ($34,480) is taken up with the deeply graphic “spindle” grille, limned in brightwork, set between the dazzling LED light spears and narrow, remorseless headlamps. This mug is even more scornful and borderline than the one hung on the new IS and GS sedan. The F Sport version we had (out the door at $42,710) was positively Saturnine. And yet it lands right on the feisty little crossover, and I have to marvel at the fabrication required to make that metal mesh grille inset. The styling is a win.

LEXUS NX200T F SPORT AWD

ENLARGE

Lexus NX200t F Sport AWD LEXUS

Price, as tested: $42,710

Powertrain: Turbocharged and intercooled, DOHC, 16-valve, 2.0-liter inline four with variable valve timing (Atkinson- and Otto-cycle capable); six-speed, multimode auto trans; all-wheel drive

Horsepower/torque: 235 hp at 4,800-5,600 rpm/258 lb-ft at 1,650-4,000 rpm

Length/height/weight: 182.3 inches/64.8 inches/4,050 pounds

Wheelbase: 104.7 inches

0-60 mph: 7.0 seconds

EPA fuel eco: 21/28/24 mpg, cty/hgh/cmb (91 oct)

Cargo capacity: 17.1/54.6 cubic feet (rear seats up/folded)

Behind that grille is another bit of science fiction: a 2.0-liter, port- and direct-injected, twin-scroll turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine, a first for a Lexus. The intercooler plumbing, turbocharger and exhaust manifold are integrated into the engine’s cast-aluminum head, primarily to reduce turbo lag. Also, thanks to its broad authority over valve timing, the engine can switch between fuel sipping, low-power Atkinson-cycle combustion (like the engine in the Prius) to the more power-rich Otto-cycle, as demand requires.

The result is an engine that doesn’t really have any weakness, from low rpm to its trilling, counterbalanced redline. The 2.0 produces 235 hp from 4,800-5,600 rpm, and hits peak torque—a goodly 258 lb-ft —from as low as 1,650 to 4,000 rpm. That’s pumped through Lexus’s six-speed automatic, as slippery as a bucket of squid, out to a limited-slip front differential and half shafts.

You can up-armor your NX200t with Lexus’s clever all-wheel drive system that allows as much as 50% of drive to be shipped rearward in the event of a loss of traction at the front wheels. The Dynamic Torque Control AWD, as you might guess, modulates yaw rates with brake-based torque vectoring.

If you get all sassy with your bad self, you will order the F Sport package, which includes a harder-accelerating final gear ratio (4.11 vs. 3.88); as well as summer tires, sport-tuned suspension; paddle shifters and very swank leather seating with contrasting stitching. The F Sport package also includes an audio system that will pipe in aurally augmented engine sounds through the speakers. This raises metaphysical questions beyond the scope of our inquiry.

Lexus estimates the NX200t AWD can bundle itself to 60 mph in 7 seconds, which is very respectable energy management for a 2-ton vehicle. The other side of that coin is fuel economy: The NX200t AWD gets commendable fuel economy: 21/28/24 mpg, city/highway/combined, says the EPA.

The NX comes in three flavors: a non-turbo’ed 2.0-liter (not available in the U.S.); the turbo’ed 200t; and the NX300h, a gas-electric hybrid with a 67-hp electric motor between the wheels for dual-mode AWD.

In this segment it will need all the traction it can get.

This JEEP moves as good as it looks

That the term "JEEP" presently ha negative connotations for many Jamaicans made our discovery at the ADA Motorshow all the more pleasant.

Firstly, the JEEP brand, as iconic a 4WD vehicle s there ever was, is back in Jamaica officially. This time being represented by Kingston Industrial Garage KIG. But wait! - there's more! the new Jeep Cherokee and Wrangler are being offered in Right Hand Drive. Yes, the Americans have decided to accommodate persons who drive on the left side of the road (though our personal preference is still toward LHD).

2015 Wrangler Unlimited

For 2015, the upgraded Wrangler Unlimited comes standard with an Alpine audio system, Mp3 adaptability, and a dual hardtop-softtop roof among others. The Cherokee comes with touch-screen navigation, wireless charging pad and steering wheel controls.

The soft top is manually actuated, but you can always get the hardtop version, in which case the canopy will be stored in the cavernous boot at your convenience.

Welcome back, Jeep. One (or two) to watch.

The $40M Ride?

I

f greenlit, the proposed G65 will likely come around to dealers near you (in the US, of course) sometime in 2016. Although the current G63 carries a price tag of $135,000, it’s likely the G65 with its upgrades will double that figure, but when you have 737 lb-ft of torque at your disposal, are you really going to care how much it costs?

"Get With This" The Kia Soul: A Crossover You SHOULD Cae About

OK, so you might not have any knowledge (or interest) in vintage hip-hop (in this case, the Black Sheep's "The Choice is Yours" and you may even care less about animatronic hamsters in car ads. And that's okay.

But you do care about things like fuel economy, carrying space and overall performance, or at least you should. If our assumptions are correct, then you should be turning your attention to the crossover that beat the Nissan Cube into submission(the model is being pulled due to disappointing sales), and which Car & Driver declared the "winner of the box-car wars"

Well, the Soul isn't exactly a box, but its design is on the quirky side, and in fact, that's in keeping with the general flow of ideas in the compact market - we've already reviewed Nissan's Juke, which is emblematic of the segment in a somewhat different way.

But back to the Soul. Even local dealers Kia Jamaica have sold their last in-stock unit this past week, the model did not exactly fly off the lot in the way it has in the US, where Soul sales have helped propel Kia to its best year ever.

The aformentioned style quirks and the offbeat marketing may partly attribute to that, but for whatever reason, the Soul is not to be slept on (and note: we have yet to fully test the vehicle; that will come with the next batch)

But one figure does jump out: 54, as in 54 miles to the gallon (Mpg) - that's what the folks at Kia are claiming forthe unit, although the auto publications we have read thus far peg it closer to 35; but even at the lower figure, that's still more than respectable, meaning a trip to Montego Bay and back to Kingston can be accomplished on roughly have a tank, good for mile-logging mmedia types like us.

Anther media-friendly feature is the over 240 cubic feet of carrying space, with the rear seasts fully folded down. This means work trips need not call for the hiring of a separate vehicle.

Reports on handling and overall road-worthiness will have to wait for our test drive, but in the meantime, if your looking for a capable cross-over at a convenient price (US manufacturers list for the Soul Plus variant is around $17K, so figure somewhwere in the J$3-4million range; we'll confirm soon) then you should , as the rappers say "get with this".


roomy

54mpg

Nissan Juke: The "Punch" line is....value

So, those who know this blog know we're more than a little immune to auto industry hype. Renault-owned (that's French if you were wondering) Japanese car maker Nissan has been quite active in this sphere of late, having developed somethign of a specialty for quirky named vehicles (Qashqai anyone?) and its overarching "SHIFT" camapign. The electro-hybrid compact leaf has gotten the lion's share of media attentio since its introduction, but in this region, its the SUV line that's grabbing headlines. The newest addition to that line is the appropriately catchy Juke. The 4-door crossover is surely an eye-catcher on the outside: rally-inspired headlights, and abold mix of curves and edges add up to a far-from-static curbside presence.

The design "tricks" continue inside, with a motorbike-inspired (think Ducati) bridge between the driver and passenger seats. Press the now obligatory START-STOP button and the driving experience begins in earnest. The Juke checks all the expected boxes with regard to handling, smoothness of acceleration, appropriate brake force response. Further, the creature comforts are decent and  the instrumentation meets the feng shui and usefulness demands.

A torrential downpour mitigated against certain aspects of our test drive  so the jury is still partially out, at best, on the Juke's SUV capabilities. And even though I didn't personally sit in the back, the rear leg room appears somewhat less than desired.

Still, the Nissan proposition is as much a value proposition as anything else. Just as its already "legendary" GT-R (the Hon. Usain is reportedly yet to truly push his special edition)has been providing a supercar-killer for about half the typical supercar price, so the Juke (essentially a Z-car reimagined) provides a neat entry point into the crossover segment. For a confessed "Bimmer-guy" like myself, this vehicle presumably would go up against theX1. Though I haven't (yet) driven that vehicle  - and must confess, it generally doesn't excite me - I cant imagine the Germans (BMW, Audi and Mercedes) being that superior in the driving dynamics category so as to justify the price gap.

So, what we have here from Nissan, through local dealers Fidelity Motors, is a practical starter vehicle that is nonetheless visually engaging and basically harmless fun to drive (good mileage too, of course). It will neither castrate the timid driver (apologies, ladies) nor lull the more demanding sort into a bored stupor.
This Juke's got a good steady beat.



Thanks to Fidelity Motors - David Crawford and the entire team - for providing the test vehicle.

4Wheelz goes to Europe

As of Monday, May 16, the 4wheelz blog will be absorbed into my other blog, Island Autobahn.
for updates, you can go to http://www.eurojamcar.blogspot.com

Thanks for visiting our blog, and spread the word to other car and jeep/SUV enthusiasts you know

topless Murano for you

This just in; We have the first official photograph of Nissan's all-new Murano CrossCabriolet, which has not only lost the standard model's top, but also the rear doors. The four-seater model will have its world premiere at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show later this week and go on sale in the U.S. early next year. For the time being, we don't have much in the way of information on technical specs or prices, but we'll definitely keep you updated if anything new pops up. Follow the jump for a higher resolution picture and the official statement from Nissan.

Statement from Nissan:
"The world’s first all-wheel drive crossover convertible, delivers the open-air exhilaration of a convertible while extending the versatility of the Murano in exciting new ways. With room for four adults, space for golf bags or luggage (even with the top down), and a premium level interior, the Murano CrossCabriolet represents a breakthrough in concept and design. Set to go on sale in early 2011."