Photo: SB Medien
Not long ago, we saw a car that we initially thought was only a rumor come out of hiding and testing on public roads. Hidden under well-placed camouflage, the upcoming BMW X2 impressed us with its shape and finally confirmed what we didn’t want to believe: the Germans are really aiming at every possible niche.
Codenamed F39 internally, the new crossover will be based on the X1 and will have a slightly different shape towards the rear of the car, one that should come close to a coupe. Judging by what we’ve seen in the spy photos, that’s a long shot, but a difference in design will be noticeable.
Sharing the same underpinnings, at least one of the two will apparently get a 3-liter inline 6-cylinder engine as well, according to our sources. Unfortunately, no additional details were provided but such a move would be curious, to say the least.
There’s definitely enough room under the hood for the 3-liter mill, but this would be the first car built atop the UKL platform to use such a big engine. Another problem would come in the transmission department, the current layout of the X1, for example, being designed to send the power to the front wheels first of all, and then, possibly, to the rear ones as well, but only when needed.
Moving to a 3-liter engine positioned longitudinally would cause some serious headaches to the engineers. No doubt that the power would be sensational for this segment, but it could also turn out to be a nightmare. And then again, maybe we are wrong.
This could be the case especially since our source claims that only the X2 will have the 3-liter mill. That would mean that the Coupe-like crossover might be developed on a different architecture than the X1 and thus accommodate a bigger engine that would send the power to the rear wheels more easily. If that’s the case, this would also prove to be the high-performance model the company needs to run up against the likes of the GLA45 AMG, but the interior space would have to suffer dire consequences.
Sharing the same underpinnings, at least one of the two will apparently get a 3-liter inline 6-cylinder engine as well, according to our sources. Unfortunately, no additional details were provided but such a move would be curious, to say the least.
There’s definitely enough room under the hood for the 3-liter mill, but this would be the first car built atop the UKL platform to use such a big engine. Another problem would come in the transmission department, the current layout of the X1, for example, being designed to send the power to the front wheels first of all, and then, possibly, to the rear ones as well, but only when needed.
Moving to a 3-liter engine positioned longitudinally would cause some serious headaches to the engineers. No doubt that the power would be sensational for this segment, but it could also turn out to be a nightmare. And then again, maybe we are wrong.
This could be the case especially since our source claims that only the X2 will have the 3-liter mill. That would mean that the Coupe-like crossover might be developed on a different architecture than the X1 and thus accommodate a bigger engine that would send the power to the rear wheels more easily. If that’s the case, this would also prove to be the high-performance model the company needs to run up against the likes of the GLA45 AMG, but the interior space would have to suffer dire consequences.
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