Everyone is curious how BMW’s first front-wheel drive car drives but a lot of them are forgetting that we already experienced them before. That’s because the UKL platform that the 2 Series Active Tourer is based on is also used to make the new MINI models. And we drove that.
We have to admit that we liked the way the new Cooper S handled but no matter how many parts the two share underneath the body, they cannot have the same handling characteristics. That’s because the 2 SAT is a lot taller and heavier than the MINI, not to mention longer.
That puts it in near MPV territory and, despite the fact that BMW avoids calling it so, the rest of the world already attributed this nickname to the new car. So, is it truly a Multi Purpose Vehicle?
To some extent yes. As Matt points out, the car has a couple of tricks up its sleeve, like the rear seats that can slide forward and fold, offering plenty of space for your luggage, the tall greenhouse and higher driving position compared to other BMWs.
However, none of those things seems to have been done right. The brain of an MPV driver works different than the one that hoons its rear axle around. They usually want to sit as high as possible in their cars and carry as many people around as possible. The boot also has to be really impressive and allow you to get a lot of stuff in there.
Apparently, the BMW fails at all of these things. Sure, compared to a 2 Series Coupe, you get plenty more room and a higher driving position but it’s not nearly enough. The engines are good too but other aspects matter more in this new field for the Bavarians.
Since this is their first attempt at doing this type of car, some mistakes were bound to happen and the future models will surely get better but until then, the 2 Series Active Tourer is neither an MPV or a traditional BMW, it’s something in between.
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