BMW 320d Highline

The ride quality is relatively pliant and comfortable with most sharp-edged bumps rounded off. There is still plenty of stiffness in the springs and large holes are felt as thumps in the cabin, but the car is comfortable over most Indian roads.

What's great is that none of the famed BMW dynamics have been lost. The 320d remains the keen driver’s choice. Stability, even at speeds beyond 200kph, is now rock solid with none of the wandering and vagueness that plagued the earlier version on the softer setup.

The car also entices you into piling into a corner at high speed, the spot-on body control and sense of perfect weight distribution urging you on. And while the weighty steering is very good, feedback is a little inconsistent, coming in waves. The stiff run-flat tyres and suspension make the ride quite abrupt and even jarring but it shrugs off bumps so quickly that it’s rarely unsettling.