German Car Zone

Hatch Trick

The 1 Series BMW was a more than welcome addition to the hatchback fold. Finally the prestige marque had embraced the masses, just, and the radical rear-drive set-up was an appetising prospect for serious drivers. The Golf had a real rival to worry about, it was just a little dreary in the engine department. Not any more, now the BMW 130i M Sport is upon us.

article and pics

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comment: great article. Also it's good to see our beloved GCF to grow and test drive such great cars ( )
Anyway, congrats Brian. Your efforts have brought what you expected

Move to 1er forum please.

But who's the test driver/reporter? The article says it's "Nick Hall".

Plus the Carlsson CK55 (CLS) test drive is also by him.

Anyhow, glad to see the test drives are coming back. It's always interesting to see what cars are like even aside from the press release material.

this car is pretty crappy... it has very limited rear seat legroom.. the boot is small..
And the engine is good and large.. but its to expensive.. you can go and buy a golf R32 for the same cash.. its nearly as fast and much more practical..

I'll take the 1 over the R32. It is faster, looks better (this is opinion), costs about the same, has a bigger boot, handles better, and has a chassis that IMO would make a much better modified car (something I look for). The only thing the R32 has going for it are stellar build quality and more passenger room. Those two things are nice to have, but I would rather have the more performance oriented car.

hmm i watched top gear.. and some of the things you are saying are not correct.. it costs 4K pounds more than a R32... the R32 got the better time on the lap.. and it dosent have a bigger boot..

R32 is faster to 100km/h and 130i is faster to 200km/h. Almost every review R32 has been faster around the track but 130i offer more driving pleasure and feeling. Without M-package 130i is more comfortable than R32, with M-sportpackage the comfort is almost the same.
The price difference isnt huge and its nothing to argue over.

i would take the bimmer still cause i dont like golf..
But its pretty hard to deny the fact that the golf is pretty much better at everything that matters..

I just saw the episode. I love that blue colour together with sportpackage. Now bring on 135i

There is a reason why the back is cramped, its cause of RWD , its stealing place. Also the reason why R32 in most cases are faster around tight tracks has to do with 4WD, very helpful.

Once again, 130i was praised for being more fun to drive. At least there is something good with the car

Acceleration numbers from Autobild

4WD helps the R32 in the start, up 200km/h, BMW stronger engine help to make it faster than R32.

Unfortunately, Topgear is not always ontop of their facts. Look up the prices for the two, they are within a couple hundred pounds of each other when comprabally equipped. Also, compare the two boot specs and you will see that the 130i does infact have a bigger boot.