German publication
Auto-news was at the Qatar MotoGP in Doha and given exclusive time with the new SafetyCar. The site seems a fitting place to show off the the new 1M as Qatar is in fact BMW's second largest market in the Middle East.
But onto the car. According to auto-news, the car is both lighter and faster than the "stock" 1 Series M Coupe, with a lowered chassis and its own unique (blacked out) 19" wheels. The brake system and adjustable rear spoiler are taken directly from the M3 GTS, not difficult tasks considering how the 1M was concieved. Removing the standard catalytic converters in the rear is good for an additional 7-10 HP, but this was not in the official party line from BMW. While on paper this sounds like a nice CSL/GTS variant to the 1M, Auto-news is quick to mention that one should not raise their hopes for a production model of a 1M GTS as they don't believe this will go beyond a SafetyCar.
Auto-news got to bring racer Claudia Huertgen with them to do a few hot laps around the famed Qatar Losail International Circuit. Six-point seat belts and racing shells are the standard kit, and already you know you are in a true racer. Rear seats are out with a roll cage now in their place. Curiously a little stopwatch has been fitted to the instrument cluster -- someone is having fun with lap times. Auto-news start up the car and the engine rumble immediatly translates the cars intention. Off they go, their driver immediatly realized how direct and sharp the bite of the brakes are, steering is direct and the engine revs quickly with the right amount of feedback to the gas pedal. But they can never get the car up to very high speeds, they are after all driving on a motorcycle circuit without many long stretches and alot of tight curves. From the sounds of it, the chassis and engine are tuned perfectly, and the naysers will most likely be put in their place
The cooperation between BMW M and MotoGP has always been something of a curiousity, but M Director Kay Segler says it bluntly: "We have sold many cars at the track". And so it seems, the cooperation with the motorcycle-racing event is worth it. To that fact, Auto-news points out that rival AMG has recently begun to collaborate with Italian motorcycle company Ducati. But will BMW M directly work on motorcycles? For now the answer seems to be No. However Dr. Segler did go on to talk about the
upcoming M Concept car (to be revealed at the Tokyo Autoshow) that will be "groundbreaking", but he did not elaborate. I certainly want to hear more about this concept car!
For all our German language readers, please follow the source link to read the full article and skip past my poor translation
Auto-News has also made video of the car available here: http://www.auto-news.de/video/index.jsp?id=29431. Just listen to that sound!
If you are looking for wallpapers of the 1M Safety Car, you can download them here
[Source:
Auto-News]