This ought to be a good showdown, don't you think?

 

Im thinking more of the Cayman R, I really want to see how the TT-RS, RS3 and the 1M compare, I think that will be one crazy comparison.

 

I feel the 1 M should bring all the price down. I mean an Audi costing more than a BMW? Not many here at least would buy that. Thank you BMW to set the price for this class of cars at under $50k. This would make the price and performance war interesting and will be a win for all of us!

If the Cayman is close in performance with all of these car Porsche needs to pump up the hp to justify the price difference? I hope so.

 

Not sure about your last statement. A BMW 550xi with a Dinan ECU upgrade will destroy a comparably equipped Panamera 4S for about $40K less, but I don't see Panamera prices dropping.

 

Agreed for the most part but, it's all about stock vs stock. For example when and if a car magazine does a shootout and the 1m out performs the Cayman for 20 grand less i'm sure Porsche will do something about it and raise the bar on the next gen Cayman. The major improvement i see that can be done on the car is more power, thus i mentioned more hp.

The 1M was designed to be slower than the M3 and the Cayman designed to be slower than the 911. Because of this i feel these cars are a good comparo. The TT-RS and RS3 should also be in the mix. Maybe i'll test drive them all and maybe it'll be a good upgrade from my daily driven Subaru.

 

You're not gonna get much more in terms of power, out of the 1M that isn't there on the 135i. Performance mods on the N54 (and now N55) motor are out there and in force. Even thought BMW beefed up the stock numbers it's nothing that a new 135i couldn't do with a $499 JB3 PnP tune could surpass.

I'll be honest, being a BMW enthusiast and owner I think they kinda flopped on this project. It doesn't have the same pazazz that the M3 does and only about 1/2 of the options an M car would normally carry. Really the only thing you're getting over a 135i is the M suspension which you can retrofit for an easy $2200 with all M3 parts.

All in all if it was up to me, I'd take a Cayman S (or R) over the 1M anyday of the week... and if not, I'd just get a 135i and use the extra $ left over to mod the hell out of it (which is what I did... though I would have easily chosen the Cayman S if it was in my price range).

 

The biggest advanatge I see with the M is the ability to fit MUCH wider rubber hence a much greater ability to control all that exta power. LSD is there too.

 

M3 diff
M3 axles
M3 suspension
M3 brakes (admittedly not the greatest)
CSL style wheels

All for $2200?

IMO the most important of the upgrades is the Diff... So I think the upgrades are quite nice really. I'd be putting in an order for one of these if it wasn't a turbo motor.

 

no, just suspension. no LSD or brakes or wheels. Does the 1M even come with LSD? I hadn't heard. The M3 brakes are the same size as the regular 135i brakes... made by Brembo for BMW. The only difference between them is the M3 has floating calipers... whatever that means I dunno but the brakes on my car are huge and stop pretty well.
I agree if its equipped with an LSD then maybe worth the price but then again, not everyone needs it.

 

how much bigger rubber? to my knowledge you can't go much bigger than 225f/255r on ANY 1 series... at least if you are lowered.

 

It is supposed to have the M3 LSD as well as M3 sized rubber (245F/265R). Early testers have reported there is room for even larger rubber. The larger fender flares compared to a regular 1er serve, among other things, to fit wider tires.

It comes with M3 brakes as well, which stand up to track abuse better than the already sizable 135i brakes (admittedly this is debatable, but many have been disappointed with 135i brakes for track use).

 

Got ya, I never saw the anticipated tire specs though that sounds right, probably M3 offset wheels allowing for larger width.

I know track wise the M3's brakes stand up to heat a bit better too so i suppose that makes sense. some people were melting the calipers on the 135i brakes on the track.

 

With the proper offset wheels you should be able to fit 255/285

 

I'll just leave this here. . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtenM2hFTgE

 

great video