It seems unnecessary

Lately I've been hung up on manufacturers giving their car models names that really are not needed. Today it is BMW's new 4-series. Now for those who don't know, the 4-series is the new 3-series coupe. To have a different name to a car with a different body does sound smart, until you realize it is the exact same car as the 3-series. 

So what is the point in renaming a car that you're not going to change anyway? In the case of the M3 it's nice to have a different name for the coupe, the M4. But it still isn't a big challenge to call it the M3 coupe now isn't it. 

This even happened to the to 1-series as well. It's no longer the 1-series coupe it's the 2-series. It does make sense that the odd numbers (1,3,5,7-series) are saloons and the even numbers (2,4,6-series) are coupes. But let's not forget that there is a four-door version of the 6-series. 

So why did they do this? Probably because now BMW can release four-door versions of the 2- and 4-series'. I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. 

BMW M4. 426 hp from a 3.0 litre twin turbo straight 6.

From this photo you can see it's a 4-series. But what if you couldn't see the back?

And the 2-series. There probably will be an M2 somewhere in the future.

It's all pointless

Let us stick to the same theme as the previous post, which is ranting about pointless cars. So I give you the all new uninteresting BMW 3-series Gran Turismo or GT, which was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month.

You might recognize that style of coupé/saloon design from the clumpy BMW 5-series GT. And let’s make something immediately clear, that design doesn't work with the 3-series either. BMW obviously just wanted to make a liftback version of the 3-series and indeed the 5-series and then call it something sporty like GT. Or then BMW just forgot about how to do a liftback version of a car. I don’t what the reason is for BMW making it, but it just isn't necessary. 

When the 5-series came out a couple of years ago they were everywhere. But now there just isn't as much of them on the road as when it first came to the show rooms. I suspect the same will happen to this car as well. A person who was going to buy an ordinary 3-series buys this instead and thinks it makes him special and people will finally be interested in him. But a year or so passes and he finally realises what a huge mistake he has made and buys an Audi A4 instead. And get this; the 3 GT actually has got a bigger boot than the 3-series estate by 25 litres. This then renders the 3-series Touring, pointless.

That backside looks far from delicious

And yes, it's a liftback

And here is the 5-series GT for observing the similarities

Why people, why?!

Today I saw a commercial on TV that really sparked anger within me. It was the commercial for the all new Renault Clio Sport Tourer.  And don’t be fooled by the word sport, it’s actually the estate version of the brand new Clio. It sparked fury because I don’t see the point of that car and still Renault is going to sell thousands of them hence it has no rivals except for the Seat Ibiza ST which also falls into the category of pointless cars. The problem lies in the people who buy them as well. Who thinks that it’s a great idea to put a considerable sum of money on a car that does the job of a normal estate but worse?  If all you want is a compact car that has a big boot get a Citroën C3 Picasso or an Opel Meriva for all I care. The Clio estate (I’m not saying Sport Tourer) has 430 litres luggage place, that’s 130 litres more than the hatchback Clio. And let’s be honest. The only reason you buy the estate Clio instead of the hatchback is for that lump of extra empty space hanging over the back wheels. Since there are countless cars that are cheaper, more practical and more reliable than the estate Clio it’s absolutely impossible to comprehend a person who buys one.

The second hand car market is full of cheap, practical and reliable cars that would do the job of a car so much better than the estate Clio. The only reason to buy one is that you haven’t tried anything else. And if you must have a Renault that’s an estate why not get the Megane Sport Tourer which is all the things the Clio estate isn't, except being a Renault of course.

Not hating the car, hating the concept

It does look okay though

And the cars I recommend instead of the Renault Clio estate.

The sensible Opel Meriva

 The funky Citroën C3 Picasso