We head off to Brands GP to find out if the newest M car makes a decent track tool
BMW's M Division offerings have never really been the ultimate in track-tastic fun, but a good M car, we reckon, should at least feel at home on the circuit.
After all, the original M3 was literally a race car for the road - so some sort of affinity for the track ought to be embedded deep within an M car's DNA.
Thus when we worked out that our compressed-time tenure of the 1- series M coupe would coincide with a day on the Brands Hatch GP circuit run by our track day partners, the fine folks from Bookatrack (book your very own PH Bookatrack day here now) it was an opportunity that it would have been genuinely rude to miss. Especially since it was open pit lane and so would represent plenty of time to sample the more rarely opened parts of Kent's finest circuit (er, surely you mean 'plenty of time to thoroughly assess the 1-series M's on-track ability'?? - Ed)
Unfortunately, however awesome the circuit is (and Brands GP is surely up there with the best in the world for drama and challenge), the 1- series M ain't all that on track. And that's a bit of a disappointment.
On reflection, perhaps we should have seen the 1M's weaknesses coming. For all its awesome B-road ability, that short wheelbase, coupled with the fact that it's actually quite compliant on the road makes for slightly odd behaviour on the track.
Driving the 1M on track you basically feel as though you're perched on the back of a vaguely recalcitrant horse. There's loads of grip, but there's also more body roll than you would have expected, and the short distance between front and rear wheels (and perhaps more crucially suspension) means that the 1M gently bounces and bucks around long corners, never quite feeling settled and composed on track in the way a car like the M3, with its longer wheelbase, does.
You could make the 1-series M into a mighty track machine, no doubt, simply by bunging in some rather more hardcore suspension (and the brakes would want uprating, though that would be a simple-enough task), but that would undoubtedly be to the detriment of its on-road manners.
And besides, even if you did all that you would still be left with the unavoidable fact that the twin-turbo'd straight six, for all its monumental shove, lacks the progressive nature of a highly strung naturally aspirated unit. Put simply, an engine whose power and torque arrives in such a sudden dollop, whilst it might be great for on-road driving, really isn't that easy to manage on track - even if that shove then continues in an apparently unending surge all the way to the red line.
No; better to revel in the 1M's astonishing cross-country pace and its ability to despatch with whole streams of slow-moving A-road traffic at will, and maybe save the circuit shenanigans for something a bit more track-focussed.
Didn't test it properly ! We need to know if the front lip/side skirts survive an excursion into the gravel at Paddock Hill Look so good and good little write up.
Question: Were you on road tyres for the track session?
Your point about turbos is noted though. Does that make it a more tricky road car too (if you don't have the fine tuning of the throttle as a way of controlling the car)?
NB- I'm not advocating hanging the back end out on the road. But I wonder if you needed to control a skid on a road if it'd make a difference.
A good example of horses for courses - of course you could make the 1M more track friendly, but then why not just buy a CSL and do a few choice tweaks to make it an awesome track tool.
I have not seen the 1M brochure - does it even make reference to race tracks, like the M3 CSL brochure does & the E30 M3 brochure did.
Hmm, does not tally with the other mag's published times and experiences...?
Evo's time of 1:25.90 around Bedford makes this little car quicker than an M3 V8, R8 V8 and within spitting distance of a Cayman R, V12V and the California.
Autozeitung clock it quicker than an M3 V8, RS5, M6, 997 C2S (Gen1), Cayman S.
Sport Auto also have it clocked quicker than a 997 C2S (Gen1), Evora, 993 Turbo and nose to nose with the M3 V8.
I had the pleasure of sharing Brands Hatch GP circuit with the 1-Series M on Thursday whilst at the wheel of an R300 from Bookatrack! I think it looked awesome in the flesh and fell in love with it, what a shame to hear it didn't quite live up to expectations... I've always been a BMW nut having owned an E36 328i Sport, an E46 330ci Sport and then I started a family and now have an X3... One day I hope to own another performance BMW and was going to put this on the list, maybe I'll stick with my first choice of an M3!
P.S. Thanks to Johnny and the guys from Bookatrack... It was a pleasure driving an R300 round the Brands GP Circuit! What an awesome day out!
Hmm, does not tally with the other mag's published times and experiences...?
Evo's time of 1:25.90 around Bedford makes this little car quicker than an M3 V8, R8 V8 and within spitting distance of a Cayman R, V12V and the California.
Autozeitung clock it quicker than an M3 V8, RS5, M6, 997 C2S (Gen1), Cayman S.
Sport Auto also have it clocked quicker than a 997 C2S (Gen1), Evora, 993 Turbo and nose to nose with the M3 V8.
This is what I was thinking.
For all its worth, I wasn't expecting this car to be perfect on track although Riggers, its not that bad is it?
As the owner of a 130i, I have found that for all the car's real world pace and ability, the smooth nature of a track brings out the best in the chassis. Perhaps therein lies the cause; by exposing BMW's ability to produce cars with sublime balance and poise, it brings other aspects of the car's character into too much focus?
Maybe Evo are after a BMW press car for their Fast Fleet...
Hmm, does not tally with the other mag's published times and experiences...?
Evo's time of 1:25.90 around Bedford makes this little car quicker than an M3 V8, R8 V8 and within spitting distance of a Cayman R, V12V and the California.
Autozeitung clock it quicker than an M3 V8, RS5, M6, 997 C2S (Gen1), Cayman S.
Sport Auto also have it clocked quicker than a 997 C2S (Gen1), Evora, 993 Turbo and nose to nose with the M3 V8.
This is what I was thinking.
For all its worth, I wasn't expecting this car to be perfect on track although Riggers, its not that bad is it?
As the owner of a 130i, I have found that for all the car's real world pace and ability, the smooth nature of a track brings out the best in the chassis. Perhaps therein lies the cause; by exposing BMW's ability to produce cars with sublime balance and poise, it brings other aspects of the car's character into too much focus?
Maybe Evo are after a BMW press car for their Fast Fleet...
Agreed. I've been fortunate enough to drive a 135i around portimo in Portugal and it was a wonderfully balanced thing. No track weapon but a lot of FUN!
Hmm, does not tally with the other mag's published times and experiences...?
Evo's time of 1:25.90 around Bedford makes this little car quicker than an M3 V8, R8 V8 and within spitting distance of a Cayman R, V12V and the California.
Autozeitung clock it quicker than an M3 V8, RS5, M6, 997 C2S (Gen1), Cayman S.
Sport Auto also have it clocked quicker than a 997 C2S (Gen1), Evora, 993 Turbo and nose to nose with the M3 V8.
Don't know where the German tests were done, but Bedford is smoother than a freshly-waxed lingerie model dunked in double cream. I'd hazard a guess that the Brands GP section, used only a few times each year, is a bit ripply.
I think Riggers needs a bit more journalistic experience calling out the 1m as a short wheelbase car. I think rig should study up on what such a thing really is. 104.7 j
I've always been a BMW nut having owned an E36 328i Sport, an E46 330ci Sport and then I started a family and now have an X3... 
