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BMW 1 M Coupe on Top Gear

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Top Gear review the 1 M Coupe...

Quote: "Straight 6 in the front, manual gearbox in the middle, drive at the rear. That's page 1, chapter 1 of the Petrosexual handbook"

Then...."If you bought an M3 with the Automatic transmission, then you are a f**ken poser" Love it!!!

(Yes, he means that horrid DCT thingy)

Edited by E90 M3

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I liked what Clarkson had to say about the car, and the actual shots of the car, but I hated the' Tron style' effects mixed into the editing. They get a bit carried away in post production sometimes, the same thing happened with the LF-A review.

Those visuals might be some peoples cup of tea but I see it as tacky and not necessary.

Otherwise....... a good Top Gear episode, loved the end section Clarkson did on the E-Type.

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Wow, an M car that Clarkson thinks is perfect. Such a nice car!

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awesome guess this means theyve started to roll out a new season?

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Then...."If you bought an M3 with the Automatic transmission, then you are a f**ken poser" Love it!!!

(Yes, he means that horrid DCT thingy)

What's wrong with the DCT? I now have a Golf with DSG and despite expecting to hate it (I went shopping for manuals ones) I actually think its good. I'd rather different shift points in D mode (it prioritises fuel economy), but otherwise happy.

Its less involving and requires less skill than a manual, but on the flipside it offers perfect flat-shift up and rev matched down every single time.

Is the BMW version bad? Or is it simply the dude being precious? They have a manual mode...

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What's wrong with the DCT? I now have a Golf with DSG and despite expecting to hate it (I went shopping for manuals ones) I actually think its good. I'd rather different shift points in D mode (it prioritises fuel economy), but otherwise happy.

Its less involving and requires less skill than a manual, but on the flipside it offers perfect flat-shift up and rev matched down every single time.

Is the BMW version bad? Or is it simply the dude being precious? They have a manual mode...

The M3 is expected to be the ultimate drive. DCT kinda takes away that feeling (as you pointed out). It depends on your taste and where you are at in life.. ;-)

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Someone should tell several supercar manufacturers they're doing it wrong then...

So a better question - what's more "ultimate drive":

- manual gearbox, H shift pattern

- manual gearbox, sequential (proper race setup)

Assuming its the latter (surely the thrill of driving isn't moving through an H pattern), is the thrill of driving using a clutch? And given real race cars flatshift on the way up, that only leaves using the clutch for the downshifts, and rev-matching/double de-clutch?

So on the basis the ultimate drive isn't an H pattern or using a clutch to shift up, it must be double de-clutching on downshifts. What if you can't do it? What if, worse, you choose not to?

(After that mini-rant, and in your defence, Porsche won't make the GT3 in PDK ;))

The most interesting thing I've found about my Golf is that the DSG took me several weeks to get used to properly. I formed a view on the test drives which were partly correct - there are things I thought were fine that I'm not so sure about now (like it short shifting into 6th gear at 60kph, which is well off boost and feels sluggish), and things I didn't realise (basically its brutally efficient when driving fast).

Edited by CamB

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Someone should tell several supercar manufacturers they're doing it wrong then...

So a better question - what's more "ultimate drive":

- manual gearbox, H shift pattern

- manual gearbox, sequential (proper race setup)

Assuming its the latter (surely the thrill of driving isn't moving through an H pattern), is the thrill of driving using a clutch? And given real race cars flatshift on the way up, that only leaves using the clutch for the downshifts, and rev-matching/double de-clutch?

So on the basis the ultimate drive isn't an H pattern or using a clutch to shift up, it must be double de-clutching on downshifts. What if you can't do it? What if, worse, you choose not to?

(After that mini-rant, and in your defence, Porsche won't make the GT3 in PDK ;))

The most interesting thing I've found about my Golf is that the DSG took me several weeks to get used to properly. I formed a view on the test drives which were partly correct - there are things I thought were fine that I'm not so sure about now (like it short shifting into 6th gear at 60kph, which is well off boost and feels sluggish), and things I didn't realise (basically its brutally efficient when driving fast).

Are the Golf and M3 super cars? No.

Would you drive around with race suspension, slick tyres and roll cage in your daily driver. No.

Not all race tech is "best" for the ultimate road drive.

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Since neither are supercars or race cars, I guess what's the harm in a decent DSG/DCT/PDK/S-Tronic/whatever Nissan's one is called/etc....

Besides "ultimate driving machine" is a BMW marketing term. They offer it in DCT. DCT must be ultimate.

Back on topic... it's good to see the 1M isn't compromised in the handling department (quite the opposite - looks a handful).

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Since neither are supercars or race cars, I guess what's the harm in a decent DSG/DCT/PDK/S-Tronic/whatever Nissan's one is called/etc....

Besides "ultimate driving machine" is a BMW marketing term. They offer it in DCT. DCT must be ultimate.

Back on topic... it's good to see the 1M isn't compromised in the handling department (quite the opposite - looks a handful).

It does depend on what YOU like as opposed to ME. That's why they have options I guess. (When BMW build the ultimate fun car (1 M) - it only comes in manual....)

Yes, that 1 M is a class act - I'm ringing my dealer now to see when I can get a test drive....

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Good plan!

Being honest, I'm still in two minds as to whether I should have got a flappy paddle shiftered car (there were good reasons, in particular lack of alternative). Perhaps I'm just rationalising my decision, but so far I think it hasn't ruined the driving experience (like I had always assumed it would).

And while it does depend on what I like, rather than YOU ... I'm wound up a little by the d-bag (the one inexpertly drifting the 1M around a giant skidpan in the 2nd video) implying a DCT driver doesn't "get it". I get it, I'm just currently a little more open-minded.

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I love everything about this car, it's manual six speed gearbox, it's turbo straight six, it looks like it handels like nothing else... Although you might think the looks are not that great... Live it will be immaculate. I love straight six engines and twin turboing it just makes it perfect. Yes V8 looks like a future for all M cars at least for a few years, but developing good old straight six just makes me to respect BMW engineers. Also I am not sure it might be a roumor, but isn't the new M3 is going to come out with straight six as well? But for me nothing will beat E46 CSL. I know its not manual, but everything about that car says drive me! and drive me hard! If BMW would put the 1M engine in CSL and put the manual gearbox in it!!! Thats all I would want to drive all my life!!! :)

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Good plan!

Being honest, I'm still in two minds as to whether I should have got a flappy paddle shiftered car (there were good reasons, in particular lack of alternative). Perhaps I'm just rationalising my decision, but so far I think it hasn't ruined the driving experience (like I had always assumed it would).

And while it does depend on what I like, rather than YOU ... I'm wound up a little by the d-bag (the one inexpertly drifting the 1M around a giant skidpan in the 2nd video) implying a DCT driver doesn't "get it". I get it, I'm just currently a little more open-minded.

I think the dude in the second video does have a point for those M3 buyers in America, who buy the M3 in DCT so they don't spill their lattes on the way to work in the morning. Wrong. Buy a LS-F if that is the case...

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Manual M3 is a great drive and so is the DKG, personally on the track i would prefer DKG due to it's faster shifts and no taking your hands off the steering wheel.

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Just watched the entire TG episode.

A good one in my opinion.

Back to the discussion.

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I love everything about this car, it's manual six speed gearbox, it's turbo straight six, it looks like it handels like nothing else... Although you might think the looks are not that great... Live it will be immaculate. I love straight six engines and twin turboing it just makes it perfect. Yes V8 looks like a future for all M cars at least for a few years, but developing good old straight six just makes me to respect BMW engineers. Also I am not sure it might be a roumor, but isn't the new M3 is going to come out with straight six as well? But for me nothing will beat E46 CSL. I know its not manual, but everything about that car says drive me! and drive me hard! If BMW would put the 1M engine in CSL and put the manual gearbox in it!!! Thats all I would want to drive all my life!!! :)

The next M3 is either a straight 6 TwinTurbo or the other rumor is that they are putting turbos on the existing V8....either way - I'm there.

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The next M3 is either a straight 6 TwinTurbo or the other rumor is that they are putting turbos on the existing V8....either way - I'm there.

Thats sounds awesome!!! :) Go BMW!!! Lets just hope they will not ruin the design of it...

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TRicky territory for them - needs to fit in the range.

- more than a 1M (turbo 6), but avoid being a hotted up 335i.

- less than an M5 (turbo 8).

It will be very interesting to see what they come up with.

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Thats sounds awesome!!! :) Go BMW!!! Lets just hope they will not ruin the design of it...

I agree.

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TRicky territory for them - needs to fit in the range.

- more than a 1M (turbo 6), but avoid being a hotted up 335i.

- less than an M5 (turbo 8).

It will be very interesting to see what they come up with.

Turbo 6 with one big turbo the size of your face.

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One huge problem though. Anyone who drives one is going to be a complete plonker. Can any of the performance, handling bladda bladda bladda be used on NZ roads? No, so why buy it over a standard 1 series. Aesthetically it looks cr@p so there's no poser benefit to it. At the end of the day it's a 1 series with an M badge that's going to pedal round 99.99% of the time under the speed limit. So the only people who will drive one will be the boring car geeks who sit in rush hour traffic, with their gloved hands resting on the gearstick telling themselves how great it feels to be sitting in the ultimate (factory) driving machine . Buy yourself a Suzuki Swift and a Fraser 7 and save yourself $60k.

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One huge problem though. Anyone who drives one is going to be a complete plonker. Can any of the performance, handling bladda bladda bladda be used on NZ roads? No, so why buy it over a standard 1 series. Aesthetically it looks cr@p so there's no poser benefit to it. At the end of the day it's a 1 series with an M badge that's going to pedal round 99.99% of the time under the speed limit. So the only people who will drive one will be the boring car geeks who sit in rush hour traffic, with their gloved hands resting on the gearstick telling themselves how great it feels to be sitting in the ultimate (factory) driving machine . Buy yourself a Suzuki Swift and a Fraser 7 and save yourself $60k.

Oh dear.. I think you've slightly missed the point of this car.

The people who will buy the 14 coming to NZ will most likely park them in the garage until the weekend and then go to such places as Hampton Downs for track days etc i would say. one customer of mine has ordered one and he does exactly that with his M3.

Edited by BMWTouring

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Oh dear.. I think you've slightly missed the point of this car.

The people who will buy the 14 coming to NZ will most likely park them in the garage until the weekend and then go to such places as Hampton Downs for track days etc i would say. one customer of mine has ordered one and he does exactly that with his M3.

Exactly.

:rolleyes:

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