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The elegant, sporty and high-tech BMW 3 Series Coupé, which arrived last month
in Australian showrooms, has been named Best New Sports Performance Car over
$50,000.
After three days of intensive road and track testing by automotive critics,
the new 225 kW Twin Turbo pure-bred sports Coupé stood out in its category.
While it is yet to be tested against the competition here in Australia, the
award for the 335i Coupé from the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada
(AJAC) highlights the appeal of the new model from BMW.
Commenting on the 3 Series Coupé in the Globe and Mail, AJAC member Bob
English wrote, “The interior is light and airy and elegantly trimmed in leather
and burl walnut. This is matched by a driving experience that is a true delight.
The twin (tiny) turbo, 3.0-litre inline-six revs to 7,000 rpm, producing 300 hp
and 300 lb-ft of torque and feeding it to the rear wheels via a surgically
precise six-speed gearbox.”
The 335i assumes pre-eminence in the 3 Series family thanks to its innovative
3.0-litre Twin Turbo petrol engine that delivers a creamy smooth 225 kW of power
at 5,800 rpm and a massive 400 Nm of torque between 1,300 rpm and 5,000 rpm.
Acceleration to 0-100 km/h is a rapid fire 5.5 seconds, almost as fast as the
E46 generation M3 Coupé.
Using high-precision direct petrol injection, an all aluminium engine and a
pair of turbo-chargers, each assigned to force-feed three cylinders, the new
Twin Turbo engine sets new standards for driving performance and pleasure.
The low inertia turbos spool up much faster than conventional units,
eliminating turbo-lag completely.
A stringent BMW weight-reduction programme, and efficient engine management,
also ensures low fuel consumption. The Twin Turbo engine is 70 kg lighter than a
comparably powerful 4.0-litre eight-cylinder engine.
The lightweight engine ensures the BMW 3 Series Coupé will retain BMW’s famed
50/50 weight distribution for perfectly balanced and entertaining handling.
Thus the 3 Series Coupé is able to comprehensively reset the handling
benchmark at an elevated level far beyond that of potential rivals.
The alluring BMW 335i Series Coupé is available in both six-speed manual and
six-speed automatic transmission guise. The most powerful regular production 3
Series ever (not including the specialist M3 models) is priced from $108,500 as
a manual and $111,100 as an automatic.
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