Top Car

January 2016|TOPCAR.CO.ZA 107``````IT’S BECOMEAtradition of sorts for mywife and I to travel toLangebaan once a year.You see there’s a cyclingfestival that takes place within the Langebaannature reserve every November ca tering forboth road ra cers and mountain bikeenthusiasts. What makes the event all the morespecial is that the ro ad network within thereserve is closed to traffic providing a relativelysafe cycling environment. I say ‘relative’beca use there’s still the odd chance of a tortoi seor stra y ostrich colliding with you...This year, the West Coast sojourn also gaveme the chance to spen d some lengthy timebehind the wheel of Hunchy. For the pastmonth or so we’ve been at odds wrestling withthe ridiculous amount of traffic thatpunctuates my routeto and from work everyday. Where all the extra traffic is coming from,I don’t know but it’s helluva annoying.Anyway, these weekend ge taways always makeme appreciate wh at an awesome car the 335ireally is–it’s so stable on the long road andeffortless to drive, all the while returning asubstantial amount of feedback from the helmand chassis. It’s in these open expanses wherethe 335i shines. Although it’s got the 8-speedZF auto–a boon in tr affic situations–the GTwas designed to be en joyed as a fast cruiserwhere car and driver combine as one entity.An area that impres sed most over the250km return trip was that of the ride quality.Even in the sportiest settings Hunchymanaged to stay composed, dispatching thesomewhat bumpy stretches of the R27 withconsummate ease. At the same time windand ro ad noise is kept to minimum, a resultno doubtowing to the vehicle’ s aerodynamicsand insulation proficiency.It’s the GT’s adaptable approach to motoringthat has me lauding it to anyone who asks formy honest opinion. Yes it has questionable``````styling (you either love it or hate it) but that’s asubjective idiosyncrasy that is soon forgottenthe moment you direct it through the firstcorner at speed. It’s got all the qualiti es thatdefine a driver’s car: telepathic steering, acommunicative chassis, tunable suspensionand a well-built interior bristling with intuitiveswitchgear an d on-board processes. What’s notto love?@AaronBorrillUps/downsA comfor table space forstressful commutes``````Traffic, poorly timedlights , jay-walkersOn the (long) road againAll it took was the right piece of road (and a cycling weeken daway) to re-ign iteAaronBorrill’spassion for pistonsMONTH 7BMW335i GTLOGBOOKBMW335iGRANTURISMO>Odo reading start/now55/ 14 596km>Distance covered14 541km>Fuel consumed1 537.93ℓ>Average fuel consumption10.6ℓ/100km>Service inter val 20 000km>Service costCovered by5-yr/100000kmmaintenance plan>Total fuel costR19 366.11>Running costR1.33/km