We’re just a few hours away from South Carolina and so far we’ve been having a blast. As we said earlier, we setup a wireless network in our car and started to use the web to provide updates on Twitter and Facebook. We also installed a video camera and we will capture our trip, of course, it will be shared with you. As you can see from one of the photos below, we took a lot of gear with us, basically filled up the trunk and let me tell you, quite spacious. There are three of us riding in this car, a couple of rolling and duffel bags, a cooler and some other things needed for our trip in the mountains in South Carolina. More on that tomorrow.
So, what’s up with the X5 diesel? Well, my two passengers are still amazed that it doesn’t sound as a diesel, very quiet compared to the old school diesel that they have driven before. Especially when driving on the highway, the noise is almost nonexistent and even when you hear it, it actually sounds pretty darn good, that roaring sound that tells you that you’re running a BMW engine.
Since I’ve driven a regular X5 before, I could probably say that the gasoline engine offers a bit more punch, a little more agile when needed. Of course, when the diesel torque kicks in, the tables turn. After 400 miles, the fuel consumption average is at 23.7MPG, but it includes some city driving as well. Not bad at all for now, especially when the diesel gallon is at $2.59.
After all these hundreds of miles, I could say that I had a blast, tried to push it in corners a bit, with the risk of annoying my passengers. The result: pretty solid, firm and corners well. Interior space is sufficient, especially if there are three or four of you inside, at five passengers it might get a bit crowded and difficult to deal with if you drive for such a long distance.
The seats are very comfortable, the typical BMW ones, tight and sporty. Even somebody like myself that has some back problems, didn’t feel uncomfortable. I would have to test the rear seating as well to see the difference. That’s all I have for now, we’re continue in a few hours with more updates and new photos from the beautiful South Carolina.
