Just a few days ago we were invited by BMW India to experience the capabilities of their adaptable all wheel drive system which they call ‘xDrive’. To unleash this technology in a challenging outdoor environment, we were provided BMW’s Sports Activity Vehicles (SAVs) namely the X1, X3 and X5. Using cutting edge technology, xDrive provides driving pleasure while pushing the vehicle to its performance limits.
Consisting of different terrains, the track was carefully carved which churned out the best of the all-wheel drive system particularly the 10-foot steep drop. With horizons hardly visible, off-roading functions such as Hill Descent Control and Hill Hold Assist proved their effectiveness. The main idea was either to run the car on banked conditions or to keep at least one of the wheels off the ground.
The BMW xDrive is an intelligent all-wheel drive system that monitors the driving situation constantly and distributes drive power smoothly between the axles, where under normal driving conditions xDrive works with a basic 40/60 torque split front and rear. According to the requirements of driving dynamics, the power transmission proportion may vary between 50:50 and 0:100, enhancing directional stability and driving dynamics when taking bends at speed. The xDrive system assures the driver that, even under adverse road-surface conditions, the torque split is always instantly optimised to provide the best possible traction and stability.
In contrast to other manufacturers, who use all-wheel drive principally to make up for the shortfall in traction suffered by front-wheel-drive vehicles, BMW tunes its xDrive system to provide handling typical of a rear-wheel drive. Even in normal situations on the road, all-wheel-drive BMW models send the lion’s share of the drive to the rear wheels.
All BMW SUVs are equipped with xDrive (barring the lower variants of the X1) while the 7-Series too gets xDrive for the top-of-the-line M760Li V12 Excellence. BMW’s xDrive range starts at Rs. 41.99 lakhs for the X1 xDrive20d M Sport, going up all the way to Rs. 2.27 crores for the aforementioned flagship sedan from the company (ex-showroom, Delhi).
