BMW xDrive Tour Experience

We take BMW's luxury SAVs - the X3, the X5 and the X6 for some axle-bending excercises.

Off roading is a fairly popular sport here in India. Today, if you happen to drive a 4X4 vehicle you can simply join a club full of like minded people who you can relate with on your off roading escapade. Though we have seen that owners of premium luxury SUVs are not really involved in going off road, mainly because they feel cars costing upwards of Rs 40 lakh are better at pampering the occupants with topnotch comfort than taking the road less travelled.

To exhibit the driving prowess of its xDrive range of models and to show that premium luxury SUVs indeed can tackle the toughest of roads, BMW’s nationwide xDrive tour gives the customers an opportunity to experience the advanced xDrive four-wheel drive system. The carmaker recently conducted one such experience in Lower Parel, Mumbai where it had lined up the X3, the X5 and the X6 range of SUVs (or SAVs for Sports Activity Vehicles – in BMW speak) for those who had registered for the Mumbai leg of the xDrive Tour. 

What makes the xDrive all-wheel drive system superior is the way it channels the power between the axles. The system constantly monitors the driving conditions and splits the power variably to the front and the rear axles in accordance with the road surface. Under normal driving conditions, the system maintains a torque split of 40/60 between the front and the rear wheels, and changes this figure variably in case the going gets tough. 

The system came in handy, particularly when tackling obstacles such as the articulation ramps and the 45 degree incline. All in all, the event not only showcased the off roading abilities of BMW’s xDrive range of vehicles, but also helped the participants improve their extreme driving skills. What’s more, the xDrive tour goes on to show that premium luxury SUVs such as the X3, the X5 and the X6 are equally at home both on road and off it.