BMW, as with so many other premium manufacturers has invested heavily in the four-door coupe. These amorphous beings try to pull off the look of a traditional coupe all while maintaining the practicality of a four-door sedan. We have battled with the idea of these cars being true sports cars and in particular, the BMW M235i xDrive Gran Coupe which has been flaunted as a very athletic vehicle. There's even a Black Shadow Edition on offer which further pushes this agenda, but a recent test session has highlighted this car's Achilles heel: the dreaded moose test in which the Grand Coupe delivered less than desirable results.

The M235i xDrive Gran Coupe comes packed with a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine producing 301 horsepower, and can accelerate to sixty in only 4.6 seconds, but that all counts for nothing if you can't take a few corners at speed. The M235i xDrive Gran Coupe was recently assessed by KM77 in Spain, where the luxury coupe failed to impress judges. At a speed of 48 mph, the car showed its weight and floundered when tackling the imaginary obstacles. The results show that the weight transferred onto the standard Bridgestone Turanza T005 standard tires was too much, and the BMW would plow into the cones at every given opportunity. The speed had to be lowered to 42 mph for the car to actually pass.

Things get more interesting when you compare its performance to some of its contemporaries and some oddballs. The 2 Series Gran Coupe's rival, the Mercedes-Benz GLA managed to complete the test with a speed of 41 mph, while a 2020 VW Golf managed the same test with a speed of 43 mph. To highlight just how disappointing this BMW performed, the Suzuki Jimny, a tall and wobbly little box of a car managed an identical average speed.