Hey, Your Top Automobile News for December 28, 2020

Your Daily Automobile updates From Around The World [img]  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [img]( [The Automobile News]( [BMW M340d Review: Genuinely All The Car You Could Ever Need]( The M340d Touring, which might just be the best car BMW makes – shouty M stuff included. Granted, the company is arguably kicking out more performance car misses than hits right now, but we don’t mean to damn the M340d with faint praise – it’s a stonkingly good car. It sounds plenty appealing before you’ve even got behind the wheel. The M340d Touring has a practical estate body which gives up to 1510 litres of boot space, a 345bhp, 512lb ft inline-six diesel engine, and the ability to clock over 50mpg. Yes, I know fast diesel wagons are nothing new, but this is the first one that’s genuinely shocked me with its straight-line pace. A 0-62mph time of 4.8 seconds sounds impressive enough, but it only tells part of the story. The beefy mid-range means that on the move, the M340d is able to pick up speed with deranged enthusiasm. It has that feeling of a 500bhp+ car where full throttle is only a brief indulgence, such is the in-gear performance on offer. The usual diesel rules apply here, so there’s a decent helping of lag and a fairly narrow powerband. The eight-speed automatic gearbox is adept at keeping you in the sweet-spot, though. It swaps cog quickly and efficiently and has a good idea of what to do when left to its own devices. It’s not a gearbox that leaves you wanting to reach straight for the paddles. To go with the blistering pace, there’s even a half-decent soundtrack. Normally it’s a hushed, refined engine, but in Sport and Sport+, the turbo diesel engine takes on a petrol-like noise. Yes, it’s all fake and I know I shouldn’t like it, but it works nicely. Whatever mode you’re in, the M340d is comfortable. This isn’t a car where the sportier settings for the adaptive dampers are best avoided, since the balance between ride comfort and composure are judged so perfectly. If only we could say the same for a lot of the full M cars BMW is making right now.As denoted by the ‘xDrive’ badging slapped all over the car, BMW doesn’t expect the rear wheels alone to cope with the six-pot’s 516lb ft of torque. All-wheel drive doesn’t make the car boring, though – the M340d isn’t, as is the case with the Audi S4, a lesson in supreme but slightly dull competence. On the greasy autumnal day, traction is impressive but not endless, and the all-wheel drive system almost always favours the rear wheels when that runs out. It’s a lot more playful than you might expect, although understeer can be an issue too. That’s an inevitable side-effect of the M340d’s pork – although most of the time it doesn’t feel it, this is a car that weighs nearly two tonnes. As with the M440i and a lot of current middleweight performance BMWs, though, there is a sense of detachment to the way it drives. The engine and the all-wheel drive system may provide plenty of thrills, but you do feel somewhat removed from the driving experience. It’s mostly down to the steering, which is no longer Munich’s strong suit. The weighting feels a little unnatural, and it doesn’t transmit any meaningful feedback from the road. Given how brilliant the M340d is at everything else, though, it’s not a deal-breaker. To go with all that incredible on-road competence and fun, it also has the most solid-feeling cabin of the compact execs out there right now. Yes, the design might not look all that fancy, but BMW hasn’t fallen into the same trap as Mercedes and Audi in cladding everything with flimsy, scratchy black plastic. The infotainment system is the best out there, too. [Read More]( The post [BMW M340d Review: Genuinely All The Car You Could Ever Need]( first appeared on [TheAutomobileNews.com](. [Read Full Story]( [Maruti Omni Digitally Imagined As A Futuristic Electric Vehicle]( A lot of carmakers in India, like Hyundai, Tata, Mahindra, etc., have declared their plans for electric vehicles in the near future. While the official sources aren’t usually generous with the info about their cars (except for a few), peoples’ interest in them is rising. Many digital artists these days are busy imagining everything with wheels as an EV, and the results are usually quite interesting. Maruti van in its next-generation electric avatar, and the design of the vehicle is quite nice. Just like the old ICE-powered model, the Omni EV gets a boxy silhouette.The front end of the vehicle features rectangular LED headlamps with integrated LED DRLs. There’s a Suzuki logo on the nose, and just like the original, there’s no front grille here. Fog lamps are mounted low on the front bumper, and there’s a functional air dam just above them. The van also gets body-coloured ORVMs with LED blinkers. From the side, the vehicle looks a little longer than the original. It still gets a sliding door for the rear though, along with black plastic cladding at the bottom. The van sports tiny alloy wheels, which look cute. At the rear, the LED taillights mirror the design of the headlights, and have a red bar running horizontally between them. The cabin of this vehicle has six seats, all forward-facing, which is much more practical than the original’s rear-facing second row. The black interior theme looks good, and we would’ve loved to see the interior rendering as well. Maruti Omni had a production run of 35 years, from 1984–2019, and was extremely popular in the Indian market. It was a reliable workhorse, available at an affordable price. In 2019, when safety regulations were tightened in India, the Omni was discontinued. Maruti Suzuki isn’t too keen on introducing new electric cars in India at the moment, with the WagonR EV being the only one confirmed, that too only as a fleet vehicle. As such, we probably won’t get to see an electric Maruti Omni in the metal anytime soon. [Read More]( The post [Maruti Omni Digitally Imagined As A Futuristic Electric Vehicle]( first appeared on [TheAutomobileNews.com](. [Read Full Story]( [Here’s What We Know About The New Cadillac Escalade]( Looking at its specs, it’s clear that the new Cadillac Escalade is set to take over the top position in the luxury SUV segment. The full-size luxury SUV segment is in high demand these days, and the brand new Cadillac Escalade 2021 is no stranger to that tier of cars. The Escalade was always the driver’s first top choice for a big, muscular, sophisticated SUV with the latest in cutting edge technology, and 2021 proves this statement, despite the Escalade’s direct competitors which include the Mercedes GLS, BMW X7, Lincoln Navigator, and Range Rover Vogue. Interior Communication & Sound 36 speakers in the 2021 Cadillac Escalade. You read it right, 36 speakers including Bluetooth headphones. Sure, the Tahoe has 62 speakers, but if that is not insane nothing is. 4 of the Escalade’s speakers are in the front headrests, and half of the dashboard itself is covered by a huge speaker. Also, the front passenger can control his own volume. Mounted on the back of the seats are the two largest screens in the car industry, which are of course multimedia devices that cater to the rear passengers’ needs, such as plugging their PlayStation or Xbox for video games. Other features are passing media content from one screen to the other such as a movie and sending navigation destinations from the rear screens to the driver’s screen. Driving & Features The first feeling that rushes through a driver’s mind while driving the 2021 Cadillac Escalade is being on top of the world. With the General Motors magnetic ride control going on its fourth generation, the ride quality ensures a smooth and non-bumpy ride. The Escalade is sporty on the corners and comfortable on the straight open road, as it is expected to be. Commuting in this massive SUV could be surprisingly comfortable compared to a Range Rover. The 2021 Cadillac Escalade holds great secrets regarding its features. For starters, the Escalade drives itself using a feature called Supercruise, which could be argued as the best self-driving technology on the market compared to competitive rivals such as Tesla. Another practical feature worth mentioning is that the rear glass can open separately from the tailgate by pressing the rear glass button on the car’s key, it opens independently in case the driver doesn’t want to open the entire rear trunk. Also, the 2021 Cadillac escalade comes loaded with tons of lighting features that do different dance patterns all around the exterior. Steering Wheel The 2021 Cadillac Escalade has been redesigned from the ground up, and the steering wheel will definitely catch the driver’s eye. Many would agree the steering wheel has been given a sportier and edgier feel while preserving its elegant look and measurements to suit its massive car size. On the steering wheel, there is a button that enables an internal intercom to communicate with passengers in the last row, Cadillac calls it a conversation enhancer. Another revolutionary feature in the brand new Escalade is the fact that Amazon Alexa could be communicated with the touch of a button on the steering wheel. With features like these, the 2021 Cadillac Escalade is proved to be yet again the best SUV in terms of technology and innovation. Screens There are five separate front screens in the new 2021 Cadillac Escalade, including a curved screen covering 38 inches, now that’s next-level technology. All the screens on the dashboard are made to look as if they are combined into one massive screen, an element not found in the car industry till now. As mentioned above, three of the screens are merged into one huge screen within the driver’s reach. The far-right one is the new infotainment system from Cadillac, a sophisticated system compared to BMW’s iDrive and Mercedes’ MBUX. The second screen is a rather small yet multifunctional screen on the left of the gauge cluster showing the trip odometer, map, night vision, heads up display, and Augmented reality which puts arrows and directions in real-time view while having the navigation turned on. The third screen is the gauge cluster screen behind the steering wheel, showing the speedometer, seatbelts, RPM, fuel consumption, and so on. The other two screens are the climate control screen and the rearview mirror screen. The Cadillac also comes with two rear screens mounted on the back of the seats. [Read More]( The post [Here's What We Know About The New Cadillac Escalade]( first appeared on [TheAutomobileNews.com](. 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