By Dave Abrahams
Royal Malewane, Limpopo - The second-generation BMW X6, released in South Africa this week, is both more and less than its predecessor.
More in that it has more power, more comfort, more luggage space and a raft of new gizmotronics; less in that it is marginally smaller, about 40kg lighter and up to 22 percent less thirsty, thanks to sleeker aerodynamics, a standard idle-stop function and an on-demand 'Eco Pro' mapping that stretches every litre by dialling back the car's responses and taking advantage of natural resources such as gravity.
New standard features include 19-inch alloy rims, an eight-speed paddle-shift transmission, bi-xenon headlights and a power-operated tailgate that opens onto a broad cargo bay that'll swallow 580 litres of retail therapy (or 1525, if you fold the 40:20:40 split rear seat-backs and the Meal Ticket's credit card can stand it.
It's available at launch in two turbopetrol and two diesel variants, each with full-time all-wheel drive, starting with the xDrive35i, with BMW's iconic 225kW/400Nm three-litre straight-six. In this application BMW quotes 0-100 in 6.4sec, 240km/h flat out and nominal fuel-consumption of 8.5 litres per 100km.
The xDrive40d and M50d in fact have the same long-stroke 2993cc straight six; while the 40d is good for 230kW and 630Nm, delivering 0-100 in 5.8sec and a 240km/h top end at a quoted cost of 6.2 litres per 100km, the M50d has three turbochargers to the 40d's one and weighs in at 280kW, with a monumental 740Nm available from 2000-3000rpm, delivering 0-100 in 5.2sec while burning a combined-cycle estimate of 6.6-litres per 100km.
Then there's xDrive50i with a direct-injection 4.4-litre biturbo V8 for which BMW quotes 330kW from 5500-6000rpm and 650Nm from 2000-4500rpm.
Its 0-100 sprint is rated at 4.8 seconds, fuel consumption at 9.7 litres per 100km.
BRINGING IT ON
Only the V8 and the M50d were available to drive at the launch and, as luck would have it, I drove the big bruiser first. The X6 has the commanding seating position and superb visibility of a big SUV, but with an unashamed road-going bias in terms of luxury and layout.
At traffic speeds the elevated viewpoint is more important than the lurking violence under your right foot; the X6 feels slightly out of scale, the steering slightly remote, as you glide through the traffic.
Once you're out of town you can punch it; this is, in effect, a 21st-century muscle car and straight-line performance is astonishing.
Very few roads in Mpumalanga are straight, however, and you soon learn that this X6 is more than just a drag queen. Plush as the ride is around town, the adaptive suspension package (standard on the xDrive50i, optional on the others) keeps it flat and level as the road gets twistier.
The X6 goes exactly where you point it, even when the laws of physics say it shouldn't, thanks to full-time all-wheel drive and dynamic performance control.
As the 'driver experience' control on the centre console is switched from Comfort to Sport and Sport+ (we didn't try the Eco Pro setting - we were having too much fun!) the car's responses become sharper and the suspension tauter, but it never loses its smoothness of response.
DIESEL DELIGHT
Seduced by the thought of 740Nm propelling the M50d, I was expecting to enjoy the latest version of BMW's three-litre turbodiesel six - and I did.
But first we had to get to the road. We stayed overnight at the magnificent Royal Malewane lodge, which lies at the wrong end of several kilometres of well-kept bush track. A careful driver could get through with a normal two-wheel drive car, but it wouldn't be fun. The X6, on the other hand never once lost grip, understeered or even slid off the top of a sandy hump in the middle of the track.
This, I thought, is what the X6 is for. If you're the kind of person who spends the occasional weekend at a game lodge, this is the how you get to the ones that are really worth visiting.
Back on the blacktop, the M50d treated even the steepest of hills with Olympic disdain and a lovely six-cylinder thrum. Gently pressing the loud pedal released a wave of torque, making overtaking manoeuvres perfectly safe that would have been foolhardy in a lesser vehicle.
But when I mashed the pedal to the floor at 2000rpm there was still just a heartbeat's hesitation - until my driving partner reached out and moved the gear lever across into Sport; then, no matter how fast I floored it, the revs were already going up before my foot hit the floor.
The adaptive M suspension, standard on the M50d and optional elsewhere as part of the M Sport package, didn't deliver quite as plush a ride as the set-up on the xDrive50i, especially in Sport+ mode, but its composure under pressure was exemplary.
And that's the best possible description of what the X6 is for: it's a luxurious, high-performance Grand Tourer with the ability to take you - in climate-controlled comfort - to very special places.
PRICES
xDrive35i - R955 503
xDrive40d - R1 056 912
xDrive50i - R1 173 773
M50d - R1 332 540
These include VAT, CO2 tax, and a five-year or 100 000km maintenance plan.