November 3, 2010

Chris Harris does a take on the BMW 1 series M

I think he gets it mostly right. Me, I would rather have the extra camber in the front, not so much the back but hey...so I don't like understeer, sue me!



end of post

10 comments:

  1. I'm pretty sure I won't be too interested in the 1-series M coupe. Somehow just overboosting the stock engine just doesn't stack up to the S54, S50, etc, it's like an M car for the recession. Surely they will keep (and just tune) the 1-series electro mechanical steering, which is something I've never been too keen for. AND! From everything I've read its still going to be > 3400 lbs.

    All in all, really doesn't interest me, and I'll be hanging on to my existing M Coupe...

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  2. It looks pretty interesting, but i'm still not sold on it. I'm one of the people that really likes NA cars and definitely respected BMW for sticking with it. In a way, switching to a Turbo setup is nice (Tuning potentiatl etc.), but i'm not sure about it, personally.

    The weight pulls it down, but, honestly, every car manufacturer has been struggling with cars that are going fat (Like people, i say). I think it's time to make Carbon Fibre frames and panels cheap! :P

    I tend to agree with you guys on the front camber. The exact same problem was with my Euro E36 M3. 225 front and 245 in the rear, standard setup. Changing to 235 all around (Like the 3 Liter was) definitely helped balance the car a bit more. It really is too bad that so many manufacturers fo for "safe understeer". I preferr Oversteer as well, thank you very much!

    Thanks again for the post!

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  3. yeah, the weight is pretty much the 335, so it makes little sense, unless they stick special things in there, like wider track, better brakes, a real LSD, wider wheels. Hopefully they spent more on the kit than the body kit...

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  4. No sideways action from the Monkey? That's not his usual style! Maybe it's because he had a project manager alongside... If Nick above is right, and it's 600 lbs heavier than an E30, then I'll say no thanks!

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  5. BTW the e92 M3 GTS is 1530KG! 3373lbs.... that's nuts. I can see a regular M car but an almost one off special...how?

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  6. Nick, the 1 Series is equipped exclusively with hydraulic power steering in North America.

    -Freep

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  7. Freep: Thanks! I did not know that! :)

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  8. This thing is gonna be sweet. There are plenty of goodies beyond tuned engine and lots of vents; manual gearbox (only), lsd, suspension, and brakes are all from the M3. And its still going to be at least 5-600lbs less than M3 with same torque. Plus it's compact, instead of a big GT coupe footprint.

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  9. I think your guys' and Chris Harris' comments are pretty much spot on.

    My concern, though, is that the 1M doesn't seem that far beyond the 135. On paper, sure, but in real life on public roads, I don't think the difference is going to be so stark. Maybe the difference will manifest itself on the track, but again, I think stock M cars haven't historically been durable enough for prolonged track use in terms of their understeer and fading brakes. Will be interesting to see how the 1M matches up.

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  10. @NSK well, all street cars understeer, the Scuderia understeers, hell F1 cars understeer if you don't drive them correctly! In general BMW MCars are very well balanced and have good "bones" as track cars, meaning that some relatively simple modifications will refocus their tasking quite effectively. I'd be more worried about the turbo engine at the track...especially if it gets modded!

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