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How to make a great car heavier without making it slower or thirstier.
BMW might have built a reputation as the purveyor of the Ultimate Driving Machine, but lately the company is venturing far afield into other areas. Case in point: Say you want an efficient 3-series. The 328i’s turbocharged four returns an EPA-estimated 33 mpg on the highway. The recently announced 320i, with a detuned version of the same engine, gets 36 by the government’s estimate. Or there’s the forthcoming 328d, with a 40-mpg diesel four-cylinder.
But what a bunch of snoozers, right? Notice the ActiveHybrid 3 tumbling from the blunderbuss, packing the same 300-hp, 300-lb-ft turbocharged inline-six as the 335i. Behind that is an eight-speed automatic in which the role of torque converter is played by a 55-hp electric motor making 155 lb-ft of torque. Maximum combined output is 335 hp and 330 lb-ft. A 1.3-kilowatt-hour battery pack lives under the trunk floor. And—drum roll please—it nabs an EPA highway estimate of . . . 33 mpg. Do we hear crickets?
So It’s a More Powerful 335i? That’s Pretty Neat
Okay, so the ActiveHybrid 3 is one of those performance hybrids. Right? Not so fast. More power does not make the hybrid 3-series quicker, for three primary reasons: all of the hybrid gear makes it about 300 pounds heavier, it has skinnier rear tires (225s, compared to the 335i’s 255s), and it gets a taller final-drive ratio than other 3-series. Its 5.0-second 0-to-60 time is 0.4 second slower than the last 335i we tested, and its 13.5-second quarter-mile is 0.2 behind the non hybrid car. Compared to most other hybrids—and most other cars, period—those times are better by light years and epochs, respectively. And no full-throttle run accompanied by the smooth wail of a BMW inline-six is ever going to leave anybody wanting.
But the hybrid gear slows the proceedings a bit away from the track, too. Throttle tip-in from a stop is lazier than a 335i because the car is hoping that you’ll be satisfied with electric propulsion. When your foot makes it clear that you’re not, the engine fires up and the car scoots away with appropriate alacrity. The delay is less noticeable when the engine shuts down at higher speeds (it’ll go silent at up to 100 mph, disconnected by a clutch between the motor and the engine), but there’s still a hitch in the accelerator travel. We kept wondering who on earth wants a 335i that drives a little bit like a Prius.
We Hope to Never Again Say “Like a Prius” in a BMW Review
It is only a little bit like a Prius, though, because it’s still a 335i. It’s an extremely well-balanced sports sedan with reflexes only recently surpassed by competitors such as the Cadillac ATS and Lexus IS. Sure, its power steering is electric, but so, too, is the steering in all 3-series (as well as the upcoming 4-series). So there’s the same vestige of feel until you really start chasing thrills, at which point the line goes dead. But overall, it’s a chassis that only disappoints in direct comparison to the best of its competitors. And the brakes, often a tactility concern with hybrids, do an incredible job of hiding the transition from spinning an electric motor for regenerative braking to pinching a rotating disc between metallic pads.
Still, though, this one doesn’t make any sense to us. At a base price of $50,575, it’s $4500 more than a 335i. If you’re concerned about the environment, the World Wildlife Federation has a program that allows you to “adopt” various species for $50 a pop. Forty-five hundred bucks is a lot of boobies and gibbons. Of course, our test car, loaded up with five packages and a handful of standalone options, ballooned to $61,800, at which point you’re in outgoing M3 territory. Not that anyone considering a hybrid 3-series deserves M3 ownership. For the extra $4500 over a 335i, then, you get a whole 2 mpg in the EPA city cycle more than what a 335i or a 328i get, and not a foot per gallon more on the highway. BMW could do better and, in fact, it already has. The car is called a 335i, and it’s all the good of the ActiveHybrid 3 with no added fat.
Specifications
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE AS TESTED: $61,800 (base price: $50,575)
ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve 3.0-liter inline-6, aluminum block and head, 300 hp, 300 lb-ft; AC synchronous electric motor, 55 hp, 155 lb-ft; combined power rating, 335 hp, 330 lb-ft; 1.3-kWh lithium-ion battery pack
TRANSMISSION: 8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode
DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 110.6 in
Length: 182.0 in
Width: 71.3 in Height: 56.3 in
Curb weight: 3904 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 5.0 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 12.0 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 5.7 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 2.5 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 3.8 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 13.5 sec @ 105 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 127 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 186 ft
FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway: 25/33 mpg
C/D observed: 23 mpg
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