| 10-13-2011, 04:00 PM | #1 |
|
Enlisted Member
 1
Rep 36
Posts |
CAR Mag - 1 M Long Term Test Oct 11
More positive from this months CAR review.
By the CAR road test team Long Term Tests 10 October 2011 10:00 Changing our view on the 1M – 10 October 2011 I don’t mind admitting that I was rather swimming against the tide when I first tried the 1M. Every other journo I spoke to was telling me it was the Second Coming. But when I first tried it I couldn't get it to flow like an M car should. I loved its feeling of compactness, the way it seemed to pivot around the gearstick, but the way the torque ramped-up so quickly combined with that short wheelbase and high levels of grip made it feel impatient and grabby at the limit. An M3 just gets better and better the harder you drive, but the 1M seemed to want to spit me off the road for daring to think I might be able to handle it. My view has changed since those early awkward drives. I still prefer the normally aspirated M3 engine (although 18mpg is hard to swallow in this day and age) and the honey-coated dynamics, but the 1M’s hard-nut persona has won me over. The sheer grunt of this little car never gets old and the way the 275-section tyres deal with all that power and torque is genuinely startling. I’ve even come to love the sudden spike of oversteer it serves-up on corner exit just when you think the bend is done and dusted. How does it compare to the M3 overall? Well, it’s a very different beast. The ride is harder and EDC dampers wouldn’t go amiss, the engine is nothing like as satisfying but its power is much more accessible and the handling balance itself is broadly comparable: no understeer, great traction and easy to balance beyond the limit. The difference is that the transition to get the thing sliding smoothly is very tricky to master. That might seem unimportant but it’s a huge part of the M car appeal for me. No question, I’d rather have the M3. But let’s not condemn the 1M. It’s about 100-times more entertaining than an RS3, it’s quite extraordinarily fast and feels genuinely special every time I jump in it. If I could choose just one word to describe it I’d go for ‘exciting’. Life with the 1M is never boring. By Jethro Bovingdon |
Post Reply |
| Bookmarks |
|
|
