ALPINA B3 Test Drive since 2007 compartment

Leading together

BMW Alpina B3 Allrad. Price: from 79 900. On sale: since July 2008
A family company from the German town of Bukhoy, which has been creating exclusive sportsmen under the Alpina brand for more than 40 years, has taken up the production of all -wheel drive models based on BMW 3 -Series
Despite a number of fundamental differences, the main competitors of Alpina’s cars are BMW charged from the Motorsport GmbH division: similar dynamics and prices of these machines give every right to carry out such parallels. However, in the spring of this year, a turning point occurred in the confrontation of two rivals. Alpina played a trump card, which Emock producers had nothing to cover. This trump card was the all -wheel drive version of the BMW Alpina B3 compartment of the irreconcilable enemy BMW M3. The installation of a full -wheel drive transmission increased the acceleration time to hundreds by only 0.1 seconds and reduced the maximum speed by 5 km/h, however, against the background of the advantages that gave all -wheel drive, the eyes can close the eyes to such a slight deterioration.
The peculiarity of Alpina sportswoman is that they can be used not only as a weekend car, but also for everyday trips as well as serial BMW. Thanks to the optimal settings of shock absorbers, outstanding power and moment characteristics of the manually collected inflatable engines, as well as the mandatory automatic transmission with a proprietary manual switch of Switch-Tronic programs from Bukhty are a healthy compromise of comfort and sports nature. However, the weather can introduce the restriction on the operation of such sportsmen: a professional tamer is required on a slippery road to a powerful rear -wheel drive beast. In this regard, all -wheel drive is preferable: when the torque is distributed between the four wheels, and is not hit by an avalanche on the rear axle, to cope with the car is much easier.
Rain during a test drive that could be worse! But the rain that broke out during the test of the BMW Alpina B3 Allrad on the autobahn in the vicinity of Munich was into our hands: a great opportunity to check the advantages of all -wheel drive! At a speed of 200 km/h, wipers work at a maximum, but still do not have time to completely clean the glass from water flows. The car stands on the road as a glove: there is not a hint of information on the steering wheel on the steering wheel. I remember last year during the tests of BMW Alpina B3, the fall on the steering force at the same speeds caused discomfort. This problem did not go unnoticed by Alpina engineers: they have worked on the suspension, and now even on a wet route the steering remains assembled. And what about overclocking? I reduce the speed, and then the gas pedal to the floor: the engine takes a deafening high octave, overloads is pressed into the chair, but I have time to notice that the light of the anti -circus system on the instrument panel did not light up the four leading wheels managed to digest all the half -thousand newthens issued by three -liter Burbo.
Of course, the German autobahn is not domestic roads, but even despite the approximation of the test conditions for ideal, they allow us to draw the main conclusion: the all -wheel drive practically did not affect the dynamics, providing the best control over the car on the slippery coating. In our climatic conditions, the new Alpina will be a great option for a sports car for every day.
20 years later
Alpina owes its world fame in many ways to motorsport. For the first time, the Alpina car entered the racing track in 1968, after which the company began to participate in competitions on a regular basis, attracting the best racers, among which are nicknames Lauda, \u200b\u200bJacques X, Hans of Projects and Dieter Quester. Alpina accounted for three victories in the European body championship, first place in SPA-Francorchamps, as well as numerous victories on a 24-hour nürburgring race. However, despite the success, the limited production capacities of the enterprise in Bukhty forced Alpina to leave big sports. This happened in 1988, and after 20 years the company announced its intention to return to the motorsport: in 2009, a specially prepared version of the Alpina B6 S compartment with a capacity of 530 hp will perform as part of the FIA \u200b\u200bGT3 championship.

Driving
Excellent dynamics and handling. Powerful brake system.
  
Salon
The interior can be completely overwhelmed in accordance with the wishes of the customer.
   
Comfort
At a high level, although low-profile tires make the car susceptible to the quality of the road surface.
   
Security
Corresponds to the characteristics of the serial BMW 3 -Series, which received 5 euro ncap stars.
   
Price
Alpina cars are expensive, but this is the fee for exclusivity.
Advantages and disadvantages
+ The dynamics and handling of a sports car is combined with the comfort of the serial BMW, the possibility of individualizing the car.
- Hard suspension, high price.
Specifications
Mark and model - BMW Alpina B3 Allrad
Dimensions - 4580x1782x1410
Engine - gasoline, 2979 cm3, 360 hp/55006000 min -1
Transmission - automatic, 6 -speed
Dynamics Max 280 km/h; 4.9 C to 100 km/h
Competitors - Audi RS4
Our opinion
The release of an all -wheel drive car is an important step for developing Alpina's success in the Russian market. The compartment is not the only model of the company with all the leading wheels: the appearance of the B3 Allrad sedan is still expected, which has every chance of becoming Alpina's sales in our country.

Author: Maxim Fedorov
 

 

A source: Magazine 5 wheel [September 2008]