motor

Car Sales | New BMW X3 xDrive35i 2011 price in Canada, Specifications & Features | The fun of owning an all-wheel-drive BMW X3 xDrive35i is inversely proportional to the fun of saying its name. The loaded example I tested has a sticker price of $53,015. The X3 xDrive35i was conceived as a means of allowing BMW to enter the foray of the hotly contested luxury crossover marketplace. Based heavily on the 3 Series model range, people were excited about taking the vaunted driving dynamics of the 3 and packaging them in a body style that would offer more practicality to those who wanted a bit more utility with their sport.

The bulk of the fun comes from this X3's engine. The 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder unit is a paragon of turbocharged goodness and puts out 300 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque. A variation of this engine is in numerous other BMWs � including the company's Z4 roadster and its full-size 740i sedan � so the power plant is certainly up to the challenge in the X3.

BMW says the X3 35i will scoot from 0 to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds, which is creeping into sports car territory. Consider that the Lincoln MKX I recently reviewed, no slouch itself and a competitor to this BMW, needed 7.2 seconds to hit the same speed.

Helping the X3 35i's prodigious acceleration is the fact that its engine's maximum torque is available from 1,300-5,000 rpm. This wide range means that almost any time you mash the gas pedal, you can expect instant gratification.

Not only does the X3 35i move forward like a sports car, but it sounds like one too. The sharp engine note is a tenor fresh from adolescence, and it can be a bit intrusive for a luxury SUV when cruising about town.

Shift the eight-speed automatic transmission into its Sport mode, and you hear more of the engine. This is because in Sport, the tranny lets the engine get closer to its 7,000-rpm redline before changing gears.

Drivers can also shift the transmission manually using the gear shift knob, though pulling the lever back to upshift is counter to nearly every other setup I can think of. The X3 35i I tested took the manual shifting one step further with optional paddle shifters as part of the $1,250 Sport Activity package.

The transmission's eight speeds, the last two of which are in effect overdrive gears, help the X3 35i achieve an EPA rating of 19 miles per gallon in the city and 26 mpg on the highway. Over 500 miles of testing, I saw an average of 19 mpg.