Photography By CHARLIE MAGEE - Car and Driver
That was one of the first notes in the X5 ’s logbook, an impression reinforced by entry after entry as the quartet drove on. It was all too easy to tramp on the throttle, get the X5 through a turn, then check the speedo to find oneself rocketing... Total surprise occurred four months earlier when we put an X6 M through its paces [ “Ironmein,” October 2009 ]. Although its contours are, uh, unique, the X6 M is basically an X5 M dressed up for the burbs—similar mass, same suspension (multilink... And the same six-speed manumatic transmission feeds the same 555 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque (from 1500 rpm) to the same full-time all-wheel-drive system and limited-slip and torque-vectoring rear diff. Though the X6 is no wraith at 5254 pounds, the X5 is 75 pounds heavier, at 5329 pounds, and stands 3. 1 inches taller. Yet it is even quicker, thanks to launch control that our preproduction X6 lacked: four seconds flat to 60 mph, 100 mph in 10 seconds, and the quarter-mile in 12. 5 seconds at 112 mph. Braking performance—162 feet from 70 mph—also edged the X6 M’s, though by just one foot, and the Porsche stopped four feet better. But brake feel and stopping power remained consistent, regardless of abuse, and wouldn’t it be swell if all mainstream family sedans were capable of matching this aspect of performance. Source: www.caranddriver.com
