car

The vagaries of our long-term fleet diary being what they are, I only drove the Range Rover Sport for the first time the other day. And what a difference the 3.0-litre diesel upgrade has made to the recent 2010 model year facelift.

Where the old 2.7 V6 TD was sluggish and struggled to lug the best part of three tonnes of whopping SUV, the new 3.0 sails along. It’s not what you’d call fast (you need one of the hedonistic V8s for that; the Supercharged is spookily rapid) but it just feels well tuned with the rest of the car. Progress is serene, performance all you need and – as with Jaguar’s application of this engine – the six-speed auto transmission is incredibly well tuned, slushing along when you want to cruise yet holding on to the gears when pressing on. It’s refined and quiet, too.

I only drove the RRS one-up, but it’s easy to see how the car could bolt into family life. It’s been hard to prise assistant editor Chris Chilton away from his beloved Rangie, so smitten is he with its everyday credentials: the kids love the view out, the boot is big and the cabin full of practical touches. Mind you, for such a large footprint, there’s not as much cabin space as you might expect; when we measured them side-by-side my old Citroen C3 Picasso actually had more rear legroom than the Sport.

That slick drive, the easy waftability of the ZF ’box and the imperious driving position that greatly assists my rural commute with its lofty over-hedge view – all conspire to make the Range Rover Sport an endearing prospect. It’s easy to see why it’s the biggest selling Range Rover by far, shifting 45,000 models last year.

But it’s incredible how quickly the zeitgeist has changed. You almost find yourself in apologist mode when you drive a car like this. Especially if you’re driving solo, as most of my weekday driving tends to be – the RRS just feels so big and OTT for everyday driving to the office. Our average consumption of 24mpg and 243g/km of CO2 don’t help your conscience, either.

Family duties and genuine off-road ability clearly provide a whole new spectrum of talent, but the Range Rover Sport’s talents neatly encapsulate the challenges posed to the very future of the SUV. No wonder future derivatives of this model will soon adopt aluminium construction, hybrid power and – in this post-LRX age – perhaps even front-wheel drive. Make no mistake, the most iconic 4x4 of all is changing fast.
BMW's new Mega City Vehicle (MCV) will launch in 2013 and spawn a whole family of innovative, high-tech models – possibly including a production version of the Vision Efficient Dynamics concept car, according to the sales boss.

Ian Robertson, board member for sales and marketing at the BMW Group, said the MCV would be the brand's first full series production electric car at launch in 2013.

'It will be badged as a BMW sub brand - with a propeller badge and a separate name,' he said. 'We are in the final stages of deciding what that name will be and there are some exciting options. It'll be like our M badge, there will be a proper sub brand on it.'

BMW's Mega City Vehicle project: the tech bit

BMW has launched a joint venture with a carbonfibre specialist and the MCV will use a composite chassis. It's a ground-up project, designed as a bespoke electric vehicle, with less of the packaging compromises inherent in a petrol car turned EV.

For instance, the batteries will be stored as thin sandwiches around the chassis rather than stored in the boot (one flipside being, a BMW EV is unlikely to qualify for a fast-drop roadside pitstop battery change).

Carbonfibre? That'll be expensive!

Exactly. Robertson refused to say how pricey the MCV will be, but admitted it will carry a stiff premium at first. But he claimed the kerbweight will be around 20% lower than a steel bodied equivalent.

'The MCV will be first in a family of cars,' added Robertson. 'We showed an interesting car with our Vision Efficient Dynamics concept car at Frankfurt last year, didn't we? It's not been approved by the board yet, but it is possible.

'Our new technical systems are capable of being scaled from a four-seater MCV designed for an urban environment to a sports car too. This technology can be applied across the group: BMW, Rolls or Mini.'

Composites for all

Robertson also predicted that in the medium term mainstream BMWs will adopt carbonfibre extensively. It sounds far fetched but he's adamant the benefits in cutting CO2 – and the virtuous circle of light weight meaning lighter ancillaries – will be worth the expense.

The MCV project is targeting the world's growing number of huge urban sprawls: Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai and 10 other Chinese cities, Mexico City and Los Angeles. London is a bit on the small side, Robertson reckons.