BMW X6 M Competition: A view to a thrill
BMW’s X6 M Competition stomps around like Godzilla with a sore head, making it the perfect car for one of Japan’s most famous roads
Lee Lilian &
Leow Ju-Len
IF you think the Tokyo skyline is something, wait till you see the Izu Skyline. A 40-kilometre toll road that climbs into thin air, it offers spectacular views of Mt Fuji, when Japan’s iconic volcano is feeling up to posing for tourist photos instead of hiding coyly behind cottony clouds, that is.
But never mind the view, spectacular though it is when the sun is shining. To the driving enthusiast the Izu Skyline is a feast of switchbacks and curves, wending its way along the Izu mountain range like a long strand of soba, carelessly dropped upon the earth by giants.
A bonus, too, is the fact that you can reach it via a quick blast through the famed Hakone Turnpike, where local petrolheads go to recreate the drifting adventures of the characters from Initial D, the street racing manga series. Photos of overturned and concertinaed cars near the men’s room of the Anest Iwata Sky Lounge at the end of the famous road (more views of Fuji here) tell of drivers who took their drift dreams a little too far.
You would think that the best car for this sort of winding challenge would be something low-slung, powerful and sporty. It turns out that you can have just as nice a time with two out of three, in a car like the BMW X6 M Competition.
At first glance, it appears to be a sport utility vehicle (SUV) that thinks it’s a sports car. But after a blast through the Izu Skyline, I think that it might actually be the other way around.
For a start, the raw numbers are pretty spectacular. With 625 horsepower under its bonnet, the X6 M Competition packs Ferrari levels of firepower. Mechanically, it’s effectively BMW’s mighty M5 on stilts, so it has all-wheel drive and active suspension, and what’s more, you can tune everything to make it just so, from the weightiness of the steering to the aggressiveness of the gear changes, or even how firm the brake pedal feels.
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The thing is, even though the edgy styling and sweeping roof disguise its bulk well, at 2.4 tonnes and nearly five metres in length, the X6 M is a big, heavy car. So it isn’t just fast, it stomps around like Godzilla with a sore head.
In fact, the BMW is one of those cars well capable of frightening its own driver. The acceleration is tireless and fearsome, the brakes are spectacularly strong, and the tyres grip tarmac like Scrooge gripped cash.
It’s easily as fast as many a pure sports car, though driving it fast, you’d miss the delicacy of something smaller and lighter. And the steering isn’t very chatty, so you’re always feeling for grip as you enter a corner, and inevitably finding more than you expected when you’re halfway through it.
But the X6 M is better than a sports car in many other ways. For one thing, you can climb aboard without groaning, because the ride height lets you slide straight into the racy, well-padded seats instead of flopping down into a perch that’s mere inches off the ground.
The sheer size means you can take friends and luggage with you, too. And it doesn’t bash your ears even when you’re going hard; the potent twin-turbo V8 is tuneful, but aurally distant.
The BMW’s main flaw is a suspension system that seems to emphasise every last bump and ridge on the tarmac, even in its softest setting. Still, body composure like this has to come from somewhere.
Anyway, if hot springs and views of Mt Fuji make nearby Hakone a popular tourist spot, then hard springs and the same make a winning combo of the BMW X6 M and the Izu Skyline.
Another thing in the X6 M Competition’s favour is that when dozy drivers see its fearsome face looming in their mirrors, they scurry out of the way in a hurry. That could have something to do with the fact that the Japanese seem to be the politest drivers on earth, or it might just be that in the land of Godzilla, people know a monster when they see one.
BMW X6 M Competition
Engine 4,395cc, V8, twin-turbocharged
Power 625 hp at 6,000 rpm
Torque 750 Nm from 1,800 to 5,860 rpm
Gearbox 8-speed automatic
0-100km/h 3.8 seconds
Top Speed 250 km/h (limited)
Fuel Efficiency 12.5L/100 km
Agents Eurokars BMW and Performance Munich Autos
Price On Application
Available On Indent
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