Quote:
Originally Posted by Artemis
Did you notice that the whole M3/M4 specs presentation is pretty low key about the 1M ? Yes, referencing to E46 M3 and E9X M3, but what about the 1M ?
Imagine for a moment an ///M car featuring a 6-cylinder, 3.0 litre displacement, at least 500 Nm, at least 369 lb-ft of torque, two turbos, flirting with 1500 kg weight, manual transmission, 50:50 weight distribution, air curtains and standard 19" wheels.
"Ah, exists already: those are the specs of the new M3/M4", you say ? You're right ...however, those are also the specs of the 1M (and not particularly those of an E46 M3 or of an E9X M3).
So the referencing to E46 M3 and E9X M3 is nice, but IMHO the M3/M4 - although a kind of its own - has closer family ties with the 1M. The 1M may have been a love child of the ///M Division, but nevertheless it's part of the ///M family.
The new M3/M4 will undoubtedly be a great car. Side-effect of its specs: the value of the 1M has further increased. The little brother ain't that little. The future (2013) proved that, back in 2010, the 1M was more than decently powered. Maybe BMW now considers that, from hindsight, the 1M should have been powered and designed a bit less spectacular. But BMW should never forget that the mere existence of the 1M unexpectedly sparked some sort of "Life Cycle Impulse" (LCI) for the ///M brand and reputation, providing some extra wings to fly again as it used to do in the past, refocusing towards what matters for the aficionados: more speedboat - less yacht.  |
Spot on, the car screams lightweight 1M in a bigger chassis, the engine specs nearly match what the 1M is or is capable of being easily tuned to.