As much as automakers try to put the S in SUV, they can only do so much in their attempt to defy the laws of physics. These vehicles have a high center of gravity and are on the heavy side, especially if we’re talking about an EV. Nevertheless, on somewhat rare occasions, car manufacturers take these cumbersome vehicles to the track. BMW just did that, but not with one of its M models.
As a matter of fact, it’s not even an M Performance car as the iX in question is the xDrive50. BMW’s South Korean branch put the electric SUV through its paces at the local BMW Driving Center located in Incheon. The facility was opened back in August 2014 following a $75.5 million investment and the creation of approximately 100 jobs.
When an SUV weighs a colossal 2,510 kilograms, it’s hardly going to be the fastest vehicle around any track. The hot lap ended after 1 minute and 33.14 seconds, which made the iX about eight seconds slower than an M4 Coupe. Rather surprisingly, it was six seconds quicker than a 420i Convertible and about two compared to a 745Le around the same circuit.
Virtually no iX owner will take the large SUV to the track (and why would they anyway?), so it’s interesting to see BMW did that without even picking the hotter M60 version. Being such a tall vehicle, taking corners at high speeds is not the electric SUV’s cup of tea, and you can easily tell that by the continuously screeching tires. Making spaceship sounds, the iX is certainly not the most gracious vehicle around a track although the body roll could be a lot worse.
The next-generation iX3 riding on the Neue Klasse platform should be far more agile, although it’s going to take a while until these electric SUVs will match the driving dynamics of an X3 M or X5 M.
Source: BMW Korea / YouTube
