When the designer controls the wheelbase 3 meters away,
But there is no need to obsess over the space inside the car,
You can create many wonderful, extraordinary things.
When we talk about BMW, generally speaking, "7" is over. The 7 Series represents BMW's achievement in the field of large luxury cars.
The truth is that we will always overlook the position of the number "8" in the BMW sedan camp. This series, which occupies the largest number in bmw's sedan sequence, always seems to have wandered out of the horizons of many people.
But just getting up close and personal with it — as I've been with the 8 Series coupe these days — you'll find that the 8 Series is playing a very special role in the BMW sedan camp. This elegant four-door coupe made me notice how the demand for space, the control of costs, and the focus on practicality wasted the proud talents that obliterated designers.
I mean, designers must have loved design projects like the 8 Series – when you control the wheelbase 3 meters away, but you don't have to be forced to obsess over the shackles of thinking like interior space, you can create a lot of extraordinary, wonderful things.
It's important to note that when you look through the narrow windows from the side of the slender body, you'll see that the driver's seat you've just gotten up from is just right in the middle of the extra-long 3023mm wheelbase. Admittedly, the rear seating space of this car is far less spacious than the wheelbase numbers suggest. In fact, the feeling of sitting in the back row can only be described as "not crowded" at best, and the leg and head space here is not as spacious as the Long Axis 3 Series.
Of course, this has been exchanged for something amazing - the wide, low long front of the car occupies almost one-third of the length of the body; the roof curve from the A-pillar has just crossed the driver's head and began to gradually accelerate and fall, and finally slightly cocked at the end of the ultra-short rear end; the proportion of the various parts of the car also makes the visual center of gravity of the vehicle look as if it is all sitting on the rear wheels, like a short-axle sports car... These elements that control the overall picture of the appearance effect are now all concentrated in a large four-door sedan with a length of nearly 5.1m, and anyone who sees all this will lament how elegant and aesthetic things designers will offer to the world when they are not bound by worldly opinions.
The four-door 8 Series I drive is an 840ixDrive model with a 3.0T in-line 6-cylinder engine, an 8-speed automatic transmission and a four-wheel drive system. The official model name also bears the suffix "M Sports Suit". This refers to things that make the car look more performance-oriented, such as blue brake calipers with M markings or lightweight black 20-inch wheels.
The test drive also featured the "M Carbon Exterior Assembly", which features a beautiful carbon fiber texture in the rearview mirror housing, the air intake at the bottom corner of the front and the bottom diffuser part at the rear (as the only chrome trim on the exterior – the double kidney air intake at the front of the car – it should be replaced with a black or carbon fiber product). However, these things that will instantly increase the appearance of anger index on other cars do not seem to make this large four-door coupe jump out of the circle of nobles who always maintain an elegant temperament.
This car has a soul that matches its appearance. Although the right foot can control the maximum power of 250kW and the maximum torque of 500Nm, and with the help of the all-wheel drive system, the 0-100km/h acceleration is only 4.9s (the fastest model in the series), but I have never been able to find its grumpy side. The high-pitched voice line of the straight 6, unlike the V8 roar, may be one thing, but it is not absolute. Because no matter which driving mode you choose, the exhaust sound mixed with electronically synthesized sound echoes in your ears. Fake engine simulation sound is definitely not a pure performance car, but I must admit that it can please many customers who don't buy a car because of performance. It's like most car buyers who will opt for the 8 Series.
Click the "SPORT" button next to the shift lever continuously to switch between "Sport", "Sport +" and "Sport Custom". In the "Sport +" mode, which puts the whole vehicle into a first-class combat readiness state, the "snapping" echo sound emitted by the exhaust pipe can be heard with the large throttle to collect the oil - the real tempering sound. The fully emotionally aroused engine, transmission, chassis, steering system and rock-fastening frame all contribute to the excitement of a sport car.
The flexible front and almost virtually virtually virtually dormant steering are more impressive than speed. Speeding through the narrow curves of winding roads, the precise but lacking sense of steering wheel can be steered with only a small amount of rotation, and you can feel that the body with little roll always wants to twist before the front of the car. This pleasant driving sensation is a clear indication of what the all-wheel drive system must have done when it comes to mixing torque – the outer wheels have extra power when cornering.
So, no matter how many turns you drive, no matter how you operate, it is difficult to detect that this is a large car with a length of 5 meters and a wheelbase of more than 3 meters. It is flexible and smooth like a large tuna preying on the bottom of the sea on mountain roads full of various types of corners, and the tight muscles that surround the cockpit are tight and strong, and the turning movements are always calm and calm.
In contrast, its acceleration ability is easily overlooked. I think it's the deliberate result of the people who created this car. In addition to using the sound system to play beautiful analog sound effects to modify the sound of the power and exhaust systems, the fast action of the transmission in the "Sport +" mode also tries to avoid excessive intrusion. You can choose manual mode and flick the paddle shifter at the moment when the HUD-projected shift signal light turns yellow to red, or you can try to overtake the slow trucks one or two hundred meters away from the curve, and grab the split line before it turns from virtual to real. Damn, you'll always do it all with grace and grace. A 2L displacement AMG A 45 can create more intimidating movement and more impactful narrative shots than it does. But the "car" of the 8 Series is here, and it prefers to get applause in the way of a figure skater – full of strength and always elegant – than a grumpy boxer who doesn't care about his stature.
The car was designed with the customer in mind – they were looking for style and beauty far more than any other. This means that the person who finally chooses this car must accept some compromises or even minor flaws.
Opt for the comfortable driving mode and most of the time you'll get a relaxing ride, but on a seemingly flat road the chassis will still pass some small jumps into the car. Similarly, four low flat ratio tires will also bring a lot of tire noise while having a super grip, and the beautiful and windless door with four open doors further reduces the quiet performance of the carriage - this car is large in size, but it is not a large luxury car based on comfort.
Look around inside the car and continue to be infected by beautiful and extraordinary designs. Almost everywhere visible in the car is wrapped in leather or flared materials, the style of the dashboard and the central control part has not yet jumped out of the RULES and regulations designed by the BMW family, and the crystal clear crystal gear and the central channel panel that looks like it is cut from glass are really beautiful. But like I said earlier, there are some flaws here from the driving level - you basically can't achieve blind operation on these buttons with a unified feel, and if you need to switch driving modes or switch functions such as AUTO HODE when driving, you have to look down and take your eyes off the road. This is not like BMW's usual approach to product design around driving. But if you think about it, "the 8 Series is playing a very special role in the BMW sedan camp", everything is logical.
Maximizing elegance and beauty, and even giving up some practicality and comfort for this, such an antithetical state also appears in many places in the car. For example, the four seats have an elegant shape that can set off the noble temperament of passengers, and a pair of independent rear seats also adopt a one-piece design. However, the comfort of the front seats is not impeccable, and there is a high probability of waist soreness for a long time.
The 8 Series was also BMW's first product to apply gesture control. By posing different hand movements in front of the central touch screen, you can adjust the volume of the entertainment system, switch songs, or call out the navigation interface. When I performed these movements, I felt like Harry Potter with an air wand. The problem is that when the freshness is over, you will realize that you can actually solve some of the most commonly used operations on the steering wheel by simply moving the thumb of your right hand.
The "Hidden Track" is the lighting design of the car, because it can only be found when night falls. The interior mood lights of the 8 Series do not have countless colors like mercedes-Benz, but most of these light-emitting elements are cleverly hidden behind the gaps in the interior parts or inside the metal perforated horn cover, and the light and shadow effects they finally project on the metal or leather interior materials are as three-dimensional as the top architectural lighting. When using the intelligent driver assistance system, I found that there were also light warnings on the steering wheel, such as the yellow warning light bar on the spokes of the wheel that would be triggered when the hands left the steering wheel for a long time. A similar design is also reflected in the door, when the door is opened, if there is an incoming car behind, the atmosphere light strip on the door will light up with a dazzling red light.
Like most BMW products, on top of the 8 Series, there is also the M8 created by bmw's M department. Interestingly, I didn't expect much from the M8 with the 460kW twin-turbo V8 like I did after driving the 3 Series and coveting the M5 after driving the 5 Series.
Maybe everything is just right at the moment, whether it's quietly parked there, or running fast in the "Sport +" mode, or slowly shuttling through the city streets at night, I began to worry about whether the overly arrogant power would destroy the elegance that the 8 Series four-door coupe was trying to maintain at all times.
For me, the existence of the 8 Series is to let the world appreciate the beauty of design, and everything else needs to be decent, not perfect. In the 8 series, designers only need to work hard to realize ideas that cannot be put into action on commercialized and market-oriented products. I'm glad that the 8 Series did it, a great success attempt that wasn't sales-led.
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