GavR Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 I had a great oppertunity this week to get to drive the new 1 series BMW against all its main rivals in a kinda of mini (group test). Working for BMW dealer I was taken to Rockingham race circuit for 3 days to compare this sector of the market. I must admit my first impressions of the car visualy were pretty mixed, It is pretty bold styling to say the least and parked next to a well spec'ed Audi A3 wich IMHO is a very good looking car, it did look a little over shadowed by the Audi, The two 1 series thay had there were both pre-production models so trims and plastics in the car were not of final production quality. The interior of the car is very driver friendly and simple to use, it has a plastic (7 series style) key which is used in conjunction with a start/stop button like the 7 series. I personaly dont see the point in this but it seems to work ok. The best aspect of this car is deffinatly the way it drives, we had a good selection of cars to compare it too some of which will be close competition for it and others which are close to its price range. the other cars were Ford Focus, Renault Megane, Audi A3, VW Golf, Merc A class and the Alfa 147. We drove all the cars for 3 laps round a tight twisty inner circuit at rockingham, The way it worked out I drove all the other cars first then the 1 series last. All vehicles were mainly 1.6 engines so they were never going to be fast, out of the above cars the focus and audi seems to handle the best on the track, both staying very stable and sure-footed on the track. The 1 series would have to be pretty good to be better than the focus or Audi. Well it did not dissapoint!! For A car of its size it really does drive well, its very well balanced throught the corners and never really feels stressed or near the limit to be honest it just drives like a 3 series, the 116i was lacking somewhat in power but compared to the competition it held its own speed wise. I think it will mainly be the Audi A3 that will be the 1 series closest rival and the audi certainly comes a close 2nd in the driving stakes so lets hope the 120d will have the power and flexibility to exploit the 1 series great chassis. I think when the public see the 1 series they will be very critical but it is just a bold new look which I do think will sell well but people really do need to drive it!!! It will be a busy time in sept when this car is launched.. should be fun!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brabus Posted May 30, 2004 Report Share Posted May 30, 2004 Sounds like fun Gav! Welcome to TS.net by the way Any chance of some pics of the 1 series? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted May 30, 2004 Report Share Posted May 30, 2004 Nice report Gav! Sounds like you had fun too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GavR Posted June 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 cheers, the site is cracking!! I could not take pictures of the 1 series, we were not allowed, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snail Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 How does the 1 series compare size wise with the compact? surely if you were testing against the A3, the 1 series, and compact are going to overlap in the product range? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPLiiX Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 Thanks for the info! My mother is looking at the 1 series.... she has a 318iSE 4dr Saloon Auto with about £5k worth of extras! Looks good though (just as well) Think she might wait till september and see/drive it then and order one for March next year and enjoy having a new car again for the summer. What sells it to her is 1. It's a hatchback 2. You can get front park control 3. It comes in Auto (thankfully in 2.0 only!) BMW Auto's are ace! Try driving one up and down hills and you would not beleive how clever they are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerbera Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 Gav, welcome to the site mate! Were you driving on the 'International Circuit' @ Rockingham ? I was there a couple of weeks ago for a track day in my ZM Coupe and had a great day! JT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GavR Posted June 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 Yeah I know what your saying about the 1 series and the Compact overlapping in price and as far as I can make out I think BMW are a little unsure what is going to happen to the compact, but I was told by a BMW (GB) employee that the compact will be fased out in the future. I suppose the main difference between the compact and the 1 series is that the compact is only a 3 door hatch so while they are both for sale along with each other they will still attract different customers. Size wise the 1 series is fairly similar inside to the compact with the added bonus of rear doors. Im about 6ft 1" and I sat in the drivers seat in a comfortable position then went and sat in the back with out moving the seat and it is bareable to be comfortable in the rear too. We used 3 different sections of track at Rockingham. Of the international circuit they split the track into two and half the track we used for testing the 1 series and competitiors, the other half we used to test the X3 on track against the Freelander and the Lexus GX300. On the oval circuit we tested the 6 Series couple/convertible against the Merc SL500 and the Jaguar XK8. BMW has bought into Rockingham and has a really impressive facility to show employees and customers the full capability of the BMW range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brabus Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 Just out of curiosity who comes up with the other brand of cars that you test the BMW's against, is it private owners/customers or manufaturer's themselves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GavR Posted June 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 Im not exactly sure to be honest, but Im sure from memory the A3 just had a dealers name on the bottom of the number plate. I kept meaning to ask but I never got round to it. They obviously have to pay for them because i asked why they didnt have a Porsche 911 to test against the 6 series and they said they tried but it was too expensive to get hold of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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