R&T gives the X6 ActiveHybrid its first drive

[Mark]

Road and Track magazine always put out great first drive write-ups and I was pleasantly surprised that they got their hands onto an ActiveHybrid X6 to do some road testing on this quick into the game. R&T go over the must know info about the car and give a quick thought on their two bits.

The following are some excerpts

During full electric running, we achieved stints of about a mile in light city traffic before the gas engine would activate. Regardless of engine load or speed, the transition from electric to gas was seamless.

We achieved 19.6 mpg (versus 14 mpg) during our mixed-mode drive.

I do look forward to a full writeup from R&T, but as far as a first drive report, its worth a quick read.

The entire first drive article can be seen here: http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/dr...6-activehybrid

[Bora20]

Impressive, but I would like to see what they can do with the rest of the range, namely the cars that people actually drive; 3 and 5 series.

[Imola.ZHP]

^ I agree, I kinda understand why BMW would put hybrid in their most expensive cars at first (let the more elite people pay the premium first, get back some of that R&D money), but on the other hand, they would probably ship more 1,3, and 5 series hybrids. Their research must have favored the upper end for some reason unknown to us...

[bdardashti]

I'd love to see BMW taking this technology and adding it to an I6 pumping out near 400hp, or I4 with near 300hp. GM can do 260hp out of a 2.0L T I4, so I don't see why BMW wouldn't be able to squeeze out another 40 ponies with a hybrid system in place.

[SHOWTIME]

I love how BMW has to add the word "active" to hybrid. As if we're too stupid to realize that it's active.

[d3l0n]

Those are decent numbers for city mpg.

I agree with the R&D comment. I think they introduce it to their most expensive vehicles first, then trickles down to the other series'.

[vase330]

All the fuel savings will never come close to equaling the price premium on that thing. I read many atticles on it. Apparently it has better acceleration than the standard rig for a small distance, then its performance is worse that the standard rig there after. If money is not a factor, and you are environmentally conscience person, then have at it. If you are counting the notes and sweating bullets, not worth it.

[vladberca]

much more expensive than a diesel version

[PeteP]

If you take into account all of the options that are standard on the hybrid and compare it to a comparably equiped 5.0, the price differential is not that steep (about $4500). However, the real problem is that BMW has a terrible lease program for the hybrid. The lease differential is about $700 a month which translates to $25,000 for a 36 month lease. It makes no sense to pay $25,000 in extra payments when the sticker difference is only $4500. Moreover, I would never buy this vehicle since the technology is not tested. That's why I predict that these things are going to sit on dealers' lots for some time. All of the dealers in my area thought they would sell instantly but they are still in inventory.