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" The R&amp;amp;amp;T staff drives and performance tests hundreds of new cars every year. Because we don&amp;#039;t have time to give each one the full review treatment, we share select logbook notes here, in a quick, easily-digested format. Unless noted otherwise, each test car is in the office for two weeks and is driven by every member of the editorial staff. Each staffer spends at least one day, but often more, in each car. Larry Webster, Editor-in-Chief From the driver&amp;#039;s seat, the X1 doesn&amp;#039;t feel as cramped as the squished exterior shape suggests. The rear seats are, of course, another story, and cargo room isn&amp;#039;t all that generous. But if you want space, there&amp;#039;s the X3. The X1 drives like what it looks like: a fun little runabout. Still, though, this car is a bit of an oddity. It&amp;#039;s not quite roomy like an SUV, not as sharp-handling as a sedan. It&amp;#039;s a tweener. Still, though, I can&amp;#039;t help but wonder what an M version would be like. Subaru STI-killer maybe? PLUS: Feels like a BMW on a high chair. MINUS: Eight-speed auto works perfectly fine. Shifter, however, is a finicky thing that requires deliberate movements to operate. READ MORE: Drive Notes: 2014 Infiniti QX70S  Alex Kierstein, Web Editor It sure doesn&amp;#039;t seem like this should be one of the highlights of the BMW lineup right now, but it is. It&amp;#039;s a good 300 lbs lighter than an X3 and actually a smidge lighter than a 328i xDrive, and it feels small in an intimate, but not cramped, sense. The dash is simple\u2014there&amp;#039;s no ConnectedDrive in this tester\u2014and has the wonderful orange illumination that I find fantastic and easy on the eyes at night. It has a relatively lively chassis, too. In fact, what it seemed the most like to me was a 1 Series wagon, underneath its CUV costume. The pace, and shifts, were suitably brisk, and other than some low-RPM clatter in ECO PRO mode as the motor lugged for fuel economy, the 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder does a reasonable approximation of a small-displacement six, and it certainly sounded nice when allowed to boil. The xDrive system did its thing seamlessly, and I had no want for traction in quick but not uncivil driving on snowy and slushy roads. The one thing that was decidedly uncivil was the leatherette interior\u2014a nasty vinyl material that felt cheap and clammy. I&amp;#039;d rather have cloth seats, or spring $1450 for the optional leather. But that doesn&amp;#039;t detract from the fact that this was a great little BMW, so long as you pretended it was a 1 Series hatch and not a low-slung quasi-CUV. PLUS: The 1 Series wagon I want in CUV drag. MINUS: The turbo four is nice, but it&amp;#039;s still not quite a naturally aspirated six. Leatherette is decidedly cheap-feeling. READ MORE: Drive Notes: 2014 Honda Ridgeline  Josh Condon, Senior Editor First thing noticed on approach in the parking lot: This thing is unfortunate-looking. The sheet metal is sort of frumpy and dowdy, like a pear turned on its side with wheels jammed underneath. But from behind the wheel, it&amp;#039;s a completely different experience. The interior is simple in the way that BMW does better than anyone: basic, not to say cheap. The elements are all there, all well-integrated, nothing shouts at you, nothing superfluous, and you can focus on driving. And it&amp;#039;s a fun drive, with a surprising amount of smooth, linear thrust coming from the 2.0-liter turbo four (and little turbo lag, to boot). The eight-speed automatic transmission is pretty quick and predictable. As a package, it&amp;#039;s a taut, responsive, engaging drive. PLUS: Functional passenger and cargo space well-integrated onto the platform of a no-nonsense driver&amp;#039;s car. Win-win. MINUS: A car this good shouldn&amp;#039;t be this ugly. READ MORE: Drive Notes: 2014 Audi S4  David Gluckman, Associate Editor The X1 always invites comparisons to the 3 Series wagon, and it just so happened that this car showed up on the same day as our new long-term 328d xDrive five-door. Yes, the 3er wins in the looks department. And yes, it&amp;#039;s available with the diesel. But all-wheel-drive X1s get hydraulic steering. Getting in is like stepping into a half-decade time warp: old BMW key, old BMW &amp;quot;Professional&amp;quot; radio, no iDrive, manual seats. And it&amp;#039;s really nice to drive because of it. But gosh, it&amp;#039;s funny-looking. PLUS: Like a 3 wagon, only taller and less disconnected. MINUS: Are all X1s burnt orange? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/road-tests/reviews/a7409/2014-bmw-x1-xdrive-28i/>