Originally Posted by jpuff
I would expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 350 - 365 bhp with torque figures to match. I would also expect the car to have a "temporary overboost program" since the majority of manufacturers seem to be doing that these days with their performance vehicles. I would expect the overboost to only come on under hard (and I mean pedal to the floor hard) acceleration, last for 6 - 9 seconds, and bring bhp and torque up to 400 - 405 for those seconds. This would allow the car to have performance on tap, so to speak, without the risk of pushing the engine too hard because those power increases would only last for the 6 - 9 seconds. It would be nice if an "M" button was mounted on the steering wheel and if pushing the M button enabled overboost. To clarify, I don't mean as soon as you push the button the car jumps up it's power ratings. I mean that when you push the button, the overboost system is engaged and then when you floor it, the overboost kicks in. If you don't push the M button and you floor it, you'll never see the overboost performance.
I also think if BMW is planning on making the next 135i's with I4's, they'd better do something really different unique or that car will flop. If you have a 135i with an I4, even if it's tuned to be making 400hp, it'll be nothing more than a modified honda with a bmw badge on it. 4cyl's just don't sound the same, and they certainly don't have the torque that 6's and 8's do. I don't know if any of you have ridden in a high hp 4 cyl. car, but even if they can accelerate fast, they don't feel as brutal as a 6 with the same hp. They don't slam you into your seat and push your eyeballs into the back of your head. I guess what I'm trying to say is that while they may have numbers that show they're fast, they just don't provide the same sensation of acceleration that higher displacement engines do. So if BMW is planning to make a new performance car with a 4cyl. then they should abort now. That is, unless they did something to make the car more attractive. For example, how many of you would over look the fact that your car had a 360- 400hp 4cyl twin turbo if that 4 cyl twin turbo was mid mounted? I can tell you right now I would absolutely love an affordable 360-400hp midengine bmw. That would be a nice car to drive. While the engine might not sound as nice as it would if it was a 6, the car would handle so well that it would make up for the engine. Infact, if BMW made the 1m a 360-400hp 4cyl twin turbo that was mid-mounted... you'd be easily able to destory 911's both on the street and on the track. There's no doubt in my mind that BMW could create a magnificantly handling car if they went the mid engine way. Of course this means they would probably have to make it a two seater, but if they are trying to make a "pure sports car" with the 1M, then that's what they need to do. The car would sell like no one's business and would handle like god. And like I said, if a bmw had 360-400hp, and had a mid mounted engine that allowed the car (along with it's sport suspension) to handle like nothing any of you have ever felt in a car unless you've driven the McLaren F1 (the last car with a mid-mounted BMW engine), then I would very easily overlook the fact that I had a 4cyl behind the cockpit.
Now for some problems I have with the direction M is going lately.
1. Forced Induction. M (as far as engines are concerned) until recently, had always been about getting the most power out of BMW's NA engines that they possibly could without resorting to FI. Doing this allowed them to offer truely "pure" high performance vehicles. Seeing M starting to use FI engines seems as though they've betrayed their roots. M was about providing the most excilerating engine they could by tuning it in every way they knew how, all while keeping it an NA engine.
2. Redline. I might be the only one who feels this way, but all M tuned cars should have high redlines. My E46 had an 8000 or 8500 redline and that was a blast. Apparently these 1M's are going to redline at 7k. Thats just sad. I like to see high redlines in high performance cars. Most new Ferrari's redline around 9000. A 7k redline is not indicative of a true pure sports car.
To me, M cars were always about high redlines, taking NA motors to the max and squeezing every last ounch of power out of them, and about doing entirely new suspensions so that the car felt like a race car and handled as such.
I'd be terribly sad to see a front mounted I4 twin turbo pushing 360 - 400hp, because every single honda can do the same thing, except weigh much less. But if they lowered the weight on the 1M to about...ohh.. 2900lbs, mid mounted the engine and re-did the suspension to allow for supercar handling and gave the engine a nice 8500 - 9000 RPM redline, then I would happily over look the fact that the engine was a turbo 4 cyl, because that car would would put the biggest f'ing smile on my face every time I got in to it. I4's are not okay in the front.
In the future, I hope M tries to stick more to their roots.... taking an NA engine and tuning it so that M has coaxed every last possible horsepower out of the engine. Giving the engine a nice high redline because 9000rpm cars are sexy, they sound stunning, and they make them feel more like true and pure race cars.
However, like I said, if M makes the 1M a two seater car, gives the engine 360hp (up to 400 during overboost), and mounts it in the middle. You'll have the first affordable pure sports car that has come out in years.... oh, and it'll be a lot of fun to drive.
If you just put a 360hp 4cyl 7k redline twin turbo engine in the front of the car, your car is nothing but a honda with a bmw emblem.
I don't know how many of you agree with me, but I feel like M should strive to maintain their reputation for taking N/A engines and turning them into high-rpm N/A beasts. I don't think the turbo road is the right one for them. FI cars are not "pure performance cars", which is why Ferrari and Lamborghini stay away from them.
Well, sorry for the rant, but that's how I feel. Again though, if they turned the 1M into a 2 seater with a mid-mounted 4cyl engine putting out 360 - 400hp that rev'd to 8500, and if they brought its weight down to 2900lbs, then suffice it to say that'd be the best selling most affordable fun car that's come out in a long long time.
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