The task of creating a car gives a lot of “north-south” decisions to make. In other words, there are many matters whose possible answers are opposed to each other in a way that heading towards one necessarily means giving up on the other. Engines, for instance, can only have totally longitudinal or totally transverse position. Styling looks sportier with lower roofs, but only the higher ones suit roomier cars. Diffusing the public into many categories of cars or concentrating them into fewer ones is only one of those. Most automakers still get satisfying results from the traditional lineup, but since the German Big Three’s inventions managed to increase their sales… They seem to have found their own right answer.
Besides, investing in so many categories isn’t so risky anymore because of all the cost-cutting strategies used in nowadays. When it comes to BMW, it keeps producing its conservative models because their stable sales help to finance developing the innovative ones. 6-Series, to give an example, is basically 5-Series’s sporty branch with a set of small changes – and a big set of additional charged euros. Since 4-Series represents pretty much the same for 3-Series, now there are six available bodies using the same underpinnings: sedan, station wagon and an “extra-roomy” hatchback stick to the third integer, while cabriolet, coupé and this article’s car exercise BMW’s craving for innovating without affecting all the traditions associated with 3-Series nor implying the costs of a whole new project.
The new Gran Coupé has potential to frown not only purist enthusiasts as also those who follow Spock’s way of thinking. After all, creating a sedan based on a coupé which was based itself on a sedan can’t possibly be logical. But this is the precise moment when you’re supposed to recur to BMW’s official speech. For starters, this car is actually a four-door coupé, just like Mercedes-Benz CLS or its direct rival Audi A5 Sportback. The automaker’s intention is to offer a more practical option than the old-school sedan but also sleeker than the station wagon – not to mention the opportunity to sell a more stylish 3-Series GT or to charge more for all that. The good part is that it’s all true in the “good ways”. One of them is the price increase being actually low, around US$ 3,000 over the 3-Series sedan at the same trim.
The other would be the car being actually better than its siblings on what it intended to. The roof is 1.2-cm taller than 4-Series coupé’s, but it was shaped with a short third volume in order to look elegant. Nevertheless, the car manages to offer a 480-liter trunk, which is easily accessed through the full liftgate and goes to 1,300 liters by folding the 40/20/40 rear bench. Equipment, trim and powertrain options are expected to follow its siblings’ list, which means it’ll offer 418d and 420d using diesel (reaching 182 hp) and 420i, 428i and 435i using gasoline (up to 302 hp). Some of these can be upgraded with eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel-drive. 4-Series Gran Coupé will make its official debut at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show, going on sale next June.
Lançamento no Brasil (10/12/2014)
Aproveitando o bom momento da Série 4 no Brasil, a BMW decidiu expandi-la um pouco mais. Uma das novas variações a chegar é o Gran Coupé, que participa do nicho de mercado conhecido como cupê de quatro portas. Ele vem sempre na versão 428i, mas pode ser escolhido com o acabamento Sport ou o M Sport, este com estilo mais agressivo criado pela divisão Motorsport. No entanto, as diferenças entre ambas não passam de elementos estéticos. O motor é sempre um 2.0 TwinPower Turbo de quatro cilindros, que gera 245 cv de potência e é associado a um câmbio automático de oito marchas. Segundo dados de fábrica, a aceleração de 0 a 100 km/h se faz em seis segundos. Os preços respectivos são R$ 223.950 e R$ 239.950.