Classic Wheels
Gallery 1
The hi-po battle among the German brands is raging hotter and on more fronts than ever before. BMW’s most affordable M car ever opens both barrels on Audi’s TT RS and Porsche’s Cayman.
First published in the October 2011 issue of Wheels magazine, Australia’s most experienced and most trusted car magazine since 1953.
I’ve been salivating over this moment, yet part of me has also been secretly dreading it. First local drive of the BMW 1 Series M Coupe, a forced-induction game-changer from Munich’s masters of natural aspiration. Will the 1M’s turbocharged drivetrain enhance M’s reputation for peerless front-engine performance cars, or tarnish it by putting a veil between the driver and the action? Will the 1 Series M Coupe’s keen $99,990 tag make its rivals look overpriced, or has BMW diluted the driving experience to meet this surprisingly low entry fee?
Dynamic, powerful, immersive. That’s what M means, and what the 1M must live up to. I hope BMW has delivered. To find out, I’ve got the first 1M in Australia for two days, and bookings at a dragstrip and a track, with 300km of my favourite backroads in between. Oh, and a couple of rivals: Audi TT RS and Porsche Cayman. One is the pinnacle of straight-line acceleration under $150,000. The other, the sharpest driver’s tool within cooee of the 1M’s price.
The 1M’s exterior also takes the M Division into new, more visually aggressive territory. Compared to the 135i coupe, the 1M’s wheel arches are pumped and packed with 19-inch BMW M3 competition rims. There’s a deep triplescoop apron at the front, a decklid spoiler, diffuser and signature quad tailpipes at the rear. It all combines to deliver a look that’s tough, tensed and chiselled, like a welterweight boxer strutting towards the ring. Looking at the 1M in the dragstrip staging area makes my heart race at the thought of actually hammering it. It also triggers a small dose of first-date nerves. I can’t wait to discover if it’s a brilliant driving machine, or a bitter disappointment. But not just yet. Now that I’m so close, I want to draw out the anticipation a little more. Let’s start with the Audi.
Okay, enough waiting. It’s M time. Launching is such a departure from the usual M-car antics where the instruction manual must first reveal the secret sevenbutton launch sequence. The 1M is a refreshing return to simpler times. Negotiate a smooth trade of clutch for throttle just on the flat torque curve at 1800rpm, and the BMW hits 100km/h in 4.7sec. The sense of accomplishment at getting the launch just right, at managing grip levels well into second gear, at quickly swapping gears just shy of the 7000rpm cutout makes the 1M more rewarding than the admittedly quicker Audi. In the BMW the driver is integral, in the Audi the driver is barely a factor (a problem easily solved by choosing the same-price six-speed manual TT RS).
The BMW’s interior has a few nice M touches, like Alcantara door trims, gearlever surround and dashboard highlights, and the chunky M-sport steering wheel. But that’s pretty much it. The dashboard looks conventional 1 Series, even if it does have grey instrument dials and red stitching. Enough there to feel a little bit special, but by no means the same extroverted chest-beating as the exterior. The Cayman’s interior is the most functionally cohesive, even though it is let down by a plasticky steering wheel. The seat is low and supportive, and all vital controls ideally placed. It’s a great office from which to work. The Cayman may want for performance on the dragstrip, but it claws this deficit back noticeably on the road.
