Spy pictures have been snapped of BMW’S upcoming new front-wheel drive compact car being tested near the automaker’s Munich headquarters.
The disguised five-door hatchback is the prototype of a car being planned for launch about 2014 to compete with compact execs such as he Audi A1 and Mercedes A-Class.
It’s not known what the new baby Beemer will be called, but it’s likely to give buyers a more affordable entry point into the BMW family than the rear-wheel drive 1 Series.
The car is likely to share its front-wheel drive platform with the third-generation “new” Mini, due for introduction in 2013, which will be separate from the rear-wheel platform planned for BMW’s other new small car, the electrically-powered i3, due in 2014.
A front-wheel drive BMW might seem sacrilegeous to BMW purists but the slick-handling Mini Cooper has proven that “sheer driving pleasure” has little to do with which wheels are being driven and, according to a recent BMW survey 80 percent of 1 Series owners aren’t even aware that their cars are rear-wheel drive anyway.
The advantage of a front-wheel drive layout is that small vehicles can be made relatively spacious.
BMW is set to launch the new car with a range of fuel-efficient three-cylinder TwinPower turbo engines, in petrol and diesel guises.
TwinPower employs a twin-scroll turbocharger, direct fuel injection and solenoid injectors (the latest innovation for BMW’s Valvetronic variable valve control) to combine small-engine fuel economy with big-engine performance.
It’s likely there will also be a petrol-electric version, following BMW’s recent deal with France’s PSA Peugeot Citroën group to expand their powertrain cooperation with hybrids. - Drive Times