The BMW M3 has grown a fair bit since its first incarnation in E30 guise. Since then, it has packed on quite a bit of poundage, seen the addition of a couple of cylinder and has even lost its manual transmission. So when BMW released the 1M Coupe, saliva glands went into overdrive at the thought of a spiritual successor to the legend of the M3.
The 1M had a straight six, a manual gearbox with a foot-operated clutch and was much smaller as well as lighter. In a nutshell, it had plenty going for it, and the automotive world was nodding in agreement.
So one of the penmen at Automobile magazine, Jason Cammisa, has thrown both those cars into the mix to see what the results are. Cammisa and his team pitted both chunks of Bavarian metal against each other, with some particular focus on the cog-swapping mechanisms.
The 1M had its rear end whipped out with some fantastic results that equaled to a fantastic video. Enjoy the video and Cammisa’s comical explanation of his dislike for the automatic M3. We have to say we can understand why some people would opt for the DCT but the racerboy in us will always choose to row our own gears.
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Source: Automobile
