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BMW is including a less costly model of the 2 Series Gran Coupe to its US portfolio, in response to a CarsDirect report printed earlier this week. Priced at $36,695 together with $995 for vacation spot, the entry-degree 228i Gran Coupe is $2,000 cheaper heading into 2021. But there’s extra to it than that.
This new 2 Series variant will use entrance-wheel drive, whereas the opposite Gran Coupes get BMW’s xDrive all-wheel-drive system. BMW is an organization that traditionally touted the advantages of rear-drive setups, so the addition of a front-wheel-drive providing is seen as heretical by some purists — particularly for the reason that two-door 2 Series fashions are nonetheless based mostly on an older, rear-drive platform. Of course, BMW has supplied FWD for years on its X1 SUV, however that does not appear to trouble individuals as a lot. Anyway.
The entrance-drive 2021 228i Gran Coupe is already displaying on BMW’s US client website. Aside from the variety of pushed wheels, it is mechanically similar to the 228i xDrive Gran Coupe, that means it makes use of a 2.0-liter turbocharged I4 engine with 228 horsepower and 258 pound-toes of torque, paired with an 8-velocity computerized transmission. BMW will proceed to supply the extra highly effective M235i Gran Coupe with all-wheel drive solely.
The customary 228i is barely extra environment friendly than the xDrive model, with EPA gas economic system scores of 24 miles per gallon metropolis, 33 mpg freeway and 28 mpg mixed. The 228i xDrive, in the meantime, is rated at 23 mpg metropolis, 33 mpg freeway and 27 mpg mixed.
A decrease-price, front-wheel-drive 2 Series Gran Coupe may actually enchantment to people who do not want the added functionality of all-wheel drive. Mercedes-Benz, for instance, provides each front- and all-wheel-drive variations of its subcompact A-Class and CLA-Class sedans for this very purpose. And no person appears to freak out about that.
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