BMW 1M Coupe Review - Price, Specs And 0-60 Time - Evo Magazine

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On the road, the 1M is as engaging to drive as it is to look at, with strong torque, a light but slick six-speed manual transmission and lithe dynamics. Its short wheelbase can make it snappy on the limit, but select Sport mode for finer response and the 50:50 weight distribution becomes easier to exploit.

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What we said

'It’s a strange thing when the manual ’box is no longer the norm in a performance car. The BMW’s shift is light but it still possesses that feeling that the internals are made of nylon. It’s lovely.

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The 1M feels busy all the time on bumpier stretches of road but it really only struggles over the bigger compressions, where it lacks a bit of travel in the suspension. What it doesn’t do is wallow. Every input to the short wheelbase from the road below or with the direct, meaty steering is met with an immediate reaction, so you are continually involved. A small bundle of excitable energy, if we were to call on a canine analogy, it’s terrier-like.

The 1M’s twin-turbo straight-six is a stonker. It’s almost utilitarian in the way it delivers its huge punch, yet it still manages to have that classic BMW note – gritty yet aristocratic. It’s hard to believe just how fast the pint-sized 1M is until you experience it, but at times it’s almost unsettling. There’s no doubt this is mostly due to the 1M’s abundance of low and mid-range torque, which properly shoves this little coupe down the road. An overboost function provides an extra 37lb ft for short bursts, peak torque climbing to 369lb ft. That’s serious grunt, especially in something this size.

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The 1M’s short wheelbase and lack of roll mean that it can feel quite a snappy car over the limit, but with the throttle set to Sport (the one and only setting you can change) you have the perfect tool to keep the rear wheels spinning just as much as you want - once sideways it seems to stabilise sweetly, albeit with a lot of tread being shed from the tyres. Fifty-fifty weight distribution and the M diff allow for hugely entertaining moments with the traction control switched off, but you do need to be quick with your reactions.

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