The enthusiast-blog Axis of Oversteer managed to get their hands on the first BMW 1 Series M Coupes to be let loose on American soil, most likely the same car we spotted earlier this morning.
While spending some time with the highly-wanted 1M, the folks at Axis decided to weigh the new M and give us an unofficial figure: 3, 351 pounds with a full tank of gas.
This figure brings us back to some of the comments BMW made in the past regarding the purpose of the 1M and its philosophy, and one of them revolved around weight-control and savings. With 340 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque, the 1M at its current weight could be just as fast as the M3 Coupe, a statement confirmed by some that had a chance to drive it at Nurburgring. Official numbers are yet to be released.
The 1M is basically a truncated M3 Competition Package with a manual, a distinct effort to create an E30 M3 soul successor. It took around 1 year to develop and test the car. M cars utilize the Nurburgring circuit for extensive testing. The car was built with very little changes to be made from the concept to the production model and weight savings came through minimal options.
The 1M is being advertised as M car that it’s not about just power and hp. This car is about road holding because of M3 suspension components. Despite being compared to the engine found in the “is” models, BMW reiterated that this engine had to pass bench and Nürburgring track tests for reliability before it was signed off by BMW M to be used in the 1 Series M Coupe and the engine software tuning was done by BMW race car engineers.
For a comprehensive list of articles on the 1M, you can follow our special section.
[Source: Axis of Oversteer]
Author: Horatiu B.
Source: http://www.bmwblog.com/2011/01/25/bmw-1 ... full-tank/