TOP GEAR REVIEWS THE BMW 1 SERIES M COUPE

If you missed tonight's Top Gear you missed a good show. A highlight was Clarkson waxing lyrical about the new BMW 1 Series M coupé. To say that he loved it is an understatement - he even said that it was today's equivalent of the Mk1 Volkswagen golf GTI - which is as good as any endorsement gets. Read More:

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Reply to
sjmmail2000-247
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Seems like a put-down, to me.

Reply to
dizzy

Well they rated the Mk1 GTI as the 20th best car of last century so I think the praise is genuine.

Reply to
Zathras

I saw the prog last Saturday (on iPlayer...) and agree that the praise for the 1M was very much genuine. I even go so far as to say that it was touching on gushing...

DAS

Reply to
DAS

Indeed, Clarkson seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself.

Reply to
Zathras

Whatever. Not a very good car, objectively. A slow, FWD econo-box.

Reply to
dizzy

"Slow"? By what measure?

And where would one utilise any extra speed?

DAS

Reply to
DAS

Usually, distance and time are used.

Right. Who could possibly make use of more than 108 "storming" horsepower?

Reply to
dizzy

I miss the old days, when cars were judged by how well they drove and handled, instead of high horsepower, and wide tyres to tame it.

Reply to
Dean Dark

Dizzy's wish is granted:

116 - 204 HP

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Scroll down to 1M.

Which traffic lights Grand Prix does dizzy wish to win?

DAS

Reply to
DAS

Well then, I'll ask who could possibly make use of the superior balance and handling characteristics of rear-wheel drive?

I could go on. It was a cheap little car. Fun to drive under the right circumstances? Maybe so, but still left in the dust by many others. IMO, of course.

Reply to
dizzy

It depends on the car. For example, I owned several Minis, ranging from stock bangers to a 1091 that was tuned up the wazoo and made close to 100 bhp. What did it weigh? How quick was it? That is an exercise for the math student, if you don't happen to already know.

FWD can work very, very well in small, light cars. Do you remember how Minis whipped and stomped all over Jaguar's arse in saloon car racing in the early 60s? How do you explain that?

Free Clue: Look at the power to weight ratio.

Second Free Clue: Compare the weight of a Mk. I Golf GTI to the current iteration of the same.

Reply to
Dean Dark

No, I'm not that old to remenber that.

I did own a second-generation Honda CRX Si, and it was a fun car. It could go 0-60 in about 8.5 seconds, while, as I recall, the MK I GTI was a couple seconds slower. Not sure why, considering the CRX was just 105 HP.

Maybe I just have a bad taste in my mouth from the "Rabbit" I once owned. I think it was a Mk I Golf.

Well, power has almost doubled, but weight has certainly not...

As an aside, WTF is it with VW/Audi and that awful inline-5? Talk about a red-headed stepchild of an engine...

Reply to
dizzy

I thought that we were comparing the Golf to *this* "1 series M coupe".

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335 HP.
Reply to
dizzy

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