BMW 5 Series vs Subaru Impreza vs Volvo off road test drive by Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond

The German Prosecutor's Office investigates BMW for possible manipulation of emission data. The NGO Deutsche Umwelthilfe accused the manufacturer of manipulating data on diesel engine emissions. The Munich Prosecutor's Office has opened a preliminary investigation against BMW for possible manipulation of the emission data of its diesel engines, according to reports on Thursday by several German media, citing sources from the Prosecutor's Office.
"We have opened a preliminary investigation in the wake of the latest reports that have appeared," said one of the sources. The objective is to determine if there is a suspicion strong enough to open a formal investigation file.
The NGO Deutsche Umwelthilfe accused BMW of manipulating data on diesel engine emissions, involving this manufacturer in the scandal that began with Volkswagen and that has affected other groups.
Deutsche Umwelthilfe found, from tests on a BMW 320d, a discrepancy of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in shop controls and road emissions, which are up to 7.2 times higher. That difference, according to the NGO, indicates that the model is installing a system that interrupts the emissions cleaning device.
BMW rejected the allegations of the NGO and a spokesman said, in statements to the newspaper Handelsblatt, that the consortium maintains the conviction that the model examined by Deutsche Umwelthilfe meets all the requirements laid down in the laws for the protection of the environment. With all-wheel drive, X-MODE electronic reduction and the Eyesight accident prevention system as standard, the new Subaru XV dominates any firm that comes your way.
The Subaru XV is one of the SUVs whose off-road capabilities are closer to those of authentic SUVs. It comes as standard with permanent all-wheel drive and X-MODE electronic traction aid system for the more slippery and complicated roads, which added to a free height of 22 cm (perhaps the highest among the SUVs) and a quite fair low , they are a guarantee when things get difficult due to the bad condition of the land, snow, ice or rain. Of course, it is not an all-rounder, because although its off-road heights are interesting - angles of attack and exit of 18 and 29 degrees respectively and ventral of 21.9 degrees - are not exceptional, and the route of the suspensions is designed under the commitment of a fun road use.
And here comes the best, because in asphalt brings a much improved agility and stability compared to the first XV of 2012 (there were aesthetic touches and equipment in 2016) thanks to the new global platform Subaru (SGP or Subaru Global Platform), which lowers half a centimeter the center of gravity and that with this car is released in Spain in January. We saw this on the snow-covered 333 Sports Complex circuit in Latvia. In his twisty journey we find evidence such as a sudden and forced lane change or a zone of cones, under a layer of snow making everything more "fun".
More rigid. In addition to enjoying, we could compare the behavior of the 2016 version against that of 2018. Greater agility in curves, fewer pitches and above all less swinging are the strengths of the current generation that sits more solidly on the track. And is that its total torsional rigidity has increased by 70%, while its new stabilizer bar achieves nothing less than double the rigidity of the rear subframe. On the other hand, its address is now 0.1 seconds faster, a figure that a priori sounds a little, but that for practical purposes is noticeable and a lot when you go fast. All this makes your driving more accurate, passing the section of cones with a line of curves much less sinuous and higher speed (and certainly with less wobbles). And, everything has to be said, we have the help of the Active Torque Vectoring (ATV) series system, a system that subtracts torque to the inside wheels in the curves to bring it to the exterior so that the turn is easier to make.
The engines are two boxer brand of the house (the cylinders are faced almost horizontally), atmospheric (without turbo, which makes them less delicate) and gasoline 1.6-liter capacity with 114 hp and 2.0-liter with 156 hp, this being last direct injection. Both have Stop / Start and active control of the intake and exhaust valves and both exceed Euro6 regulations. As for the transmission, it is in both engines by chain (also less delicate than the belt), with a change of CVT Lineartronic continuous variator that has been retouched to be much less noisy, have more power at low speed and "fill" up above the revolution counter. In addition, compared to the previous version is very natural and progressive, without the initial "kick" of diesel, but stretching in a very nice.