Word around the traps that the front-wheel drive BMW 1 Series GT will make its show debut in Paris next month is getting louder. When asked directly if this would be the case, Dr Klaus Draeger, BMW board member and head of supply and purchasing, replied to Auto Express: “I am not going to contradict you!”
As well as being the first BMW to be powered by the front wheels only, the 1er GT will also be the first to platform share with the MINI brand. Part of that sharing regime will include the use of three and four cylinder engines for both brands. In order to protect BMW’s hierarchy their engines will be tuned to ensure they offer a power advantage over their MINI equivalents.
Given platform sharing is generally designed to save a bit of cash, it’s a surprise to read the suggestion that BMW may use different transmissions to the MINI. That means a derivative of BMW’s 8-speed auto should find its way into the 1 Series GT, but not in the MINI, which will have to make do with a 6-speed auto. Both are expected to provide the option of 6-speed manual gearboxes, but these too, may not be identical units.
We hope the rendering above is a little off in its finer details, but we expect the general Mercedes B Class-like shape is on the mark.
[Source: Auto Express]
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[…] You’re looking at BMW’s first ever front-wheel drive model, the 1 Series Active Concept Tourer. For reasons of convenience we’ll refer to it as the 1 Series GT, although it is also known as the ‘Compactive Tourer’. We’re expecting a full reveal online in the next 24 hours or so, before making its public debut in Paris. […]