I Can Feel Again

BMW’s fully redesigned 3-series is bigger, stiff er, and more powerful than the outgoing F30 model. With steering feel now standard.

- Josh Jacquot

TURN 16, THE LAST, LONGEST, AND FASTEST on the Algarve International Circuit in Portimão, Portugal, is a chassis engineer’s nightmare and an exercise in commitment in the new BMW M340i xDrive. The apex is hidden just beyond a blind crest that is doubly useful for turning the car and taking its measure at the limit. Commit to the throttle before the crest and the all-wheel-drive sedan rotates confidently as it lightens. Keep your right foot pinned and the car holds a neutral attitude down the hill before settling into the compression at corner exit and ripping down the front straight. It’s a delicate balance that requires a competent chassis and a confident driver.

Sufficient confidence would be impossible without a communicative tiller. Tangible steering is hardly new to the 3-series— this is, after all, the sedan that endowed the body style with the prefix “sport.” But the last 3 faltered. The Bavarians are keenly aware that the F30 was absent much of the driving magic that built the 3-series’—and, indeed, the company’s—reputation. With this car, BMW aims to change that.

We drove two versions of the new G20designation car in Portugal: the rear-drive 330i on the street and the all-wheel-drive M340i on the track. Both wore summer tires. The new G20 envelope is stiff er and larger than the F30 it supplants. It grows 1.6 inches in wheelbase, 2.9 inches in overall length, and has a wider track, front and rear. Still, BMW’s priorities were right: The car’s center of gravity is 0.4 inch lower.