Jos van As, BMW’s head of driving dynamics, is grasping an imaginary steering wheel as he enthusiastically details the character of the new 4 Series Coupé. “It’s more sporting in every way compared with the old model,” he says. “But we’ve managed to improve overall comfort as well.”
Having just driven a prototype of the new model at 175mph along a German autobahn and then on some magnificently smooth back roads, I was eager to hear first-hand what the man responsible for its development had to say about its clearly more engaging properties.
But before I’d even had a chance to even pose the question after we pull into a shady layby in a sleepy town to swap cars (from the four-wheel-drive M440i xDrive into the altogether milder rear-driven 430i), he’s already singling out the variable electromechanical steering as the biggest benefactor among a whole series of changes that have been made to the Audi A5 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class rival.
“We’ve concentrated on making it more direct and responsive than in the recent past,” says the man who has spent more time yet in the upcoming two-door than probably anyone else with obvious pride. “There’s greater clarity and added linearity, too. We’ve incorporated measures to make the body structure a lot stiffer than before. It’s a better basis than with the four-door.”
So that’s the message: the new 4 Series Coupé, which goes by the BMW codename G22, is intended to be not only a more sporting car than any of its predecessors but also more comfortable and, crucially, further differentiated from the 3 Series upon which it’s heavily based.
This is an observation that could be made of its styling as well. Although the two prototypes I drove were both heavily disguised, the new 4 Series appears sleeker than the current model and is clearly more differentiated from its saloon sibling.
We’ll avoid any comment on the controversial grille, which is set to mirror that of the Concept 4 Series Coupé revealed at the Frankfurt motor show last September, until we see the production version.
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Really...
Is this guy funded by the German auto industry?
Peter C is bang on the money, again.
Incredible
This is EXACTLY what they said when they launched the last one but it was hardly noticeably sporty. It may indeed be better, but the degree of improvement they make these days seems to be miniscule in every way, apart from to the infotainment and dashboard!!
Tech sells!
car makers want to sell Cars, obviously, but today's drivers and those just passed or learning are much connected to the Internet, they want it in their cars too!, hence all the extra gubbins in a Car.