[music playing] this is the new bmw m135i. and it's a very exciting littlecar because it has 320 horsepower from its turbocharged 6-cylinder engine. behind me is the audi rs3. you already know thatone, don't you? 335 horsepower, four-wheeldrive. now, this is a test with adifference, because normally
when two germans get intoa tussle in the same marketplace, they have quitesimilar numbers. they cost the same. they look quite similar. they occupy the same space onthe road, and they have the same power output. but bmw has launched this carat a fiver under 30,000 pounds, whereas the rs3 isthe thick under 40,000. yes, you can spec this car upto be a lot more expensive.
but as things stand, you canhave one of these for 10,000 pounds less than the audi. this is going to bea good fight. i'm looking forward to it. do you remember when a hothatchback had about 150 horsepower? i do. and do you remember the day thatthe civic type r came out with 200 horsepower, andwe thought, where is
this going to end? they can't get any morepowerful, can they? well, audi now sellsa hot hatchback. i know it costs a lot of money,but they sell one with 335 horsepower. ferrari testarossa onlyhad 390 horsepower. this is an exceptionallyfast car. now you just know the nextword's going to be "but" though, don't you?
continuing this theme, during2012 we're discussing what makes a good audi rs model. i just don't think thatthe rs3 fits into that category, i'm sorry. i'll list some reasons why. this is a blunt instrument. it's not that muchfun to drive. there isn't much feel orinvolvement coming back through any of the controls.
it's immensely fast betweenthe corners. it has a tendency to understeer when you're in them. it's got quite a lotof front axle grip. i'll give it that. but for some reason, if you justpush a little bit beyond it when you expect the car toneutralize, it's the front that really goesaway from you. the engine is a masterpiece,as is the gearbox--
5 cylinders, fantastic noise. anyone that loved rallyingin the '80s will get that original quattro 5-cylindernoise, 335 horsepower, and massive amounts of torque. so there's no doubtingat just how effective and fast it can be. as for the chassis, as i'vesaid, steering not great, doesn't want to noseplow, andthe ride, you're not aware of how busy this is.
i'm in the softest modeat the moment. if i pile on the sport button,i get some more exhaust pop, and i get the kind of ridethat is just unpleasant. other things to note-- this cabin. after the new 1 series cabin, iknow this is the old audi a3 model, and there's a new onethat's just replaced it. but we're not going to get a newrs3 for years, so we have to compare it to this.
this just feels old. there's some really hard,brittle plastics. it just doesn't feelthat expensive. and when you assess the factthat they want 40,000 for one of these, i start to wonderwhat on earth they were thinking of. there's a couple of thingsi do need to acknowledge, though. being four-wheel drive, this cardoes have an all-weather
ability that the bmwsimply can't match. come rain or shine, you'll stickthis thing in drive, and it will be one of the fastestcars point to points on uk roads. that is not in doubt. the other thing is thisengine, as we're now realizing, is immenselytunable. a lot of people who buy carslike this want to be a bit naughty, invalidatethe warranty, and
give it loads of power. this motor's running at 450horsepower in vln races and the tts out there, and itdoes so quite happily. it does the 24-hour racein that respect. so this can go a lot, lotfurther, this motor. and that, i'm sure, is veryappealing to a lot of people. what i find really interestingabout this car and this test is a genuine mismatch. this is an rs model.
this is audi's premiumperformance brand, their very best, fastest car, and it's upagainst a new bmw sub-brand of not quite m car. the m135i is not an m car. and yet, in many areas, it showswhat should be done. yes, that's right. this isn't an exact rival forthe rs3 because it's cheaper and it's not an m car. and obviously, "m" correspondsto "rs" in audi speak.
but you know what? this is a really, reallyinteresting car. from the outside it's nothinglike as exciting looking. but if ever a car cloakedextraordinary performance in disappointingly ordinaryclothes, it's the m135i because this is a very,very fast car. in fact, i think it might bequicker than the audi rs3, but we'll find out about thatlater on in the video. it does so many of thethings right that
the audi does wrong. for example, the drivingposition is multi-adjustable. i can get low. the steering will comeback towards me. the seat is superiorin every respect. the steering-- ok, it's electric. it doesn't have anyfeel whatsoever. and in comfort mode, you thinkit's too light initially.
but if you spend time in thecar, it's very, very accurate, and it's quick. it's two turns lock to lock. i found myself finding it one ofthe most intuitive electric steering systems i've used. i'll talk about how youconfigure the chassis and the other stuff in a minute, butleft in comfort on a british set of roads, a, b, motorway, amixture like that, this is a very, very convincingcar indeed.
i thought it had a double-clutchgearbox until i checked the specification. this has the optional1,500-pound, 8-speed zeta automatic, but it behaves justlike a double-clutch because it's so fast when youmanually shift. and in automatic mode,it's fantastic. it gives a claimed performanceof north of 60 miles an hour, 62 miles an hour,in 4.9 seconds. it's a seriously, seriouslyfast car.
now, we all know this fad forconfiguring your car is becoming more andmore popular. and sadly, the m135i buysinto it big time. so there's a button down herethat allows us to choose between sport plus mode, sport,comfort, and then there's an eco promode as well. the upshot is that, most of thetime, comfort is the right mode to be in. if you go in to sport, youautomatically get a sharper
chassis, and you get a sharperthrottle response. but you can actually knockeither of those back. so sport can mean sharpthrottle, soft chassis, or sharp chassis, soft throttle. so you can do that, but it'squite complicated. you've got to mess aroundin the sub-menu up here. you can turn all of the slippystuff off if you want to, but that brings us to perhaps thiscar's most controversial point for keen drivers--
no locking differential. there's not even an optionof an lsd on this car. partly, we suspect, that'sbecause they want to keep that kind of stuff for the properfull-on m cars. but i can't help but think it'sa bit of an omission. do you know what, though? today it's been greasy, andi've expected to have more problems with traction thani've had in this car. am i missing having a lockingdiff as a road car?
i'm not sure i am. there's a lovely independentfeeling across the back axle. the car's not understeering inslow or medium speed turns, which you often getwith a tight diff. so at the moment, i'mnot missing it. however, let me go to track. that might be a different case,but at least we can go and test it. so once you've configured thecar the way you want it, which
for me means leave it in comfortand just live with the slightly light steering. oh yes, sorry. sport gives you heaviersteering as well. but to me, it's justtoo heavy. it almost feels like itdoesn't want to move off-center. once you've got it where youwant it, it's a really, really pleasant car.
if you push it really, reallyhard, you do find that the rear of the car is a bitlacking in control. you can get the rear tomove a little bit. but you've got to be travelingat about warp speed nine to reach that point. so for me, it's absolutelyfine. the interior of the car-- ok, it's complicated. it's sort of the logic of atroubled teenager thrown
around the cabin, and i stilldon't think bmw's i drive works as well as the othergerman systems. but it's modern. it's cool. the displays are funky. it makes the audi rs3 feelvery old inside. so as a road device, thisis a nicer car. to me, it feels as fast, ifnot a bit faster, and it's 10,000 pounds cheaper.
although, a big asteriskat that point-- this car, as tested,is 37,000 pounds. but i've gone through theoptions list of the stuff that i would remove like fullyelectric seats, and folding door mirrors, and some nonsenseto do with the special screens and allthe other stuff, the connected drive. you can strip out 4,000 or5,000 of that stuff. and actually, the appeal of thiscar is to get this level
of performance for justunder 30,000 pounds. so stay light on the optionsand take the performance. so all that's left really is togo and see which is faster, and try and uncover how theybehave when you really push them about. why does the rs3 have such ashocking driving position? you're too high. the wheel is too far away. i suppose at least you don'thave to heel and toe anymore.
and as for fuel economy, whenyou're not looking to make time, the best i saw was 26 mpg,and that fell rapidly if you pinned what is admittedlya very, very special engine. but the bmw's motor sounds,if anything, a little better from inside. and on a long trip using thatingenious eco pro mode, which holds onto gears longer, i havereached-- wait for this-- 38 miles to the gallon. for a car of this performance,that is astonishing.
as a road car, the bmw has theaudi covered in every area but sort of traction and extremeweather conditions really. and even then, the bmw's supplerear axle and subtle electronics give it remarkabletraction. on paper, the rs3 is the hottestof hot hatchbacks-- 335 horsepower, four-wheeldrive, 40,000 pounds before you put a few toyson it as well. what's it like on areally fast lap? and is it really 10,000pounds better and
faster than an m135i? well, let's find out. in third gear, we'll go througha couple of things, and then we'll starta flying lap. crikey. understeering already. what's that all about? 7,000, shift up then is dsggearbox, seven speeds as opposed to the bmw's eight,bigger breaking point.
pedals a bit sharper. only in third here. you just have to use so muchmore steering, and it's understeering everywhere. i've got the systemturned off. it almost means that i need tomove my hands on the wheel to get more lock on it. hooks up reasonably well, butat these higher speeds, it doesn't feel like it has thatmuch of a traction advantage.
ok. it's strolling along now. it needs a lift here, i think. it can't go flat through here. otherwise, i'll use all of thecircuit on the exit like that. bloody hell. fourth gear. oh, it's just understeering. i know it's only got a normalcontinental tire, but even if
you back off the throttle, youcan't neutralize the thing. aargh. oh, look at that rubbish. i'm sure it's going to be alovely car to live with and a lovely used purchase, but why dothese cars have to do that? yeah, sorry. i'm mr. unimpressed. i don't really care if it'sfaster than the bmw. it's got so much understeereverywhere.
a bit of understeeris fine, ok? a bit of safety understeeris fine, but not that. i mean, that's justunpleasant. a lap of grunting full throughthe circuit in an m135i, trying and carry as muchspeed onto this back straight as possible. shifting up at 7,000 rpm, howgood does this engine sound? we talk about non-m engines. well, this sounds as good aspretty much any m engine i've
listened to in thepast 15 years. braking hard at thebox up here. six-point calipers atthe front of this. it's doing a reasonablejob as well. it can carry as much speed aspossible going through here. it's going wide. i've got the system tosport plus, but i still want to intervene. just a bit easieron the throttle.
car turns nicely. that fast track is a big help. this place is quick. so we've got to sort of-- oh,am i flat-out kinky in here. is it flat? it is. ok, back down tofour for this. a little corner here. watch it's pace for the exit.
great correct through these. it's what you findin supersports. [roaring engine] so i brake the car again. it turns so nicely. i really feel like inever point to the middle of the car. lots of breadth. it's neutral.
bit of understeer,and then you get that nice bit of oversteer. for a non-m car, all i can sayis, what's the m version going to be like? because this is absolutelystunning. whoo! even as a stalwart fan oflimited zip differentials on powerful rear-wheel drivecars, i find it hard to criticize the bmw's open difffamily of electronics.
it's not as natural a drift caras the 1m, but that's as much to do with the very faststeering as the differential. the way those four-piston frontbrake calipers work, too, means this is atlast a bmw without brakes made from butter. if the 135i nails the rs3 on theroad, it kills it on the track for fun. i can't remember the last timei drove a car with a more unpleasant chassis balancethan this audi.
understeer, then, yep, somemore understeer, and then tragic understeer to follow. and after that, chunksof rubber falling from the front tires. it went 0.9 of a second quickerthan the bmw, but frankly, who cares? now, look, i'm sorry this hasbeen reduced to a drag race. but the people that buy thesesorts of cars tend to be quite punchy and want to knowwhich is quicker.
so there's only one way todecide, isn't there? side by side, two-mile runway,m135i versus our rs3. that's got four-wheeldrive, and launch control, and more power. it should obliteratethis thing. let's see what happens. my able assistant neil isdriving the other car because we couldn't affordanyone else. three, two, one, go.
ok, he gets away at thebeginning, doesn't he? but look, i'm alreadypicking him. where's the power, mr. audi? you know what? we're still-- we're trucking! we're trucking! and we're gaining. we are gaining.
this little car absolutelyflies. 140 showing. 145. now we're alongside. 150. now we're going past. yeah, baby! yeah, baby. and that's 160 indicated.
and now the limithas called time. hey boys, m135i is fasterthan an rs3. the audi has the advantageoff the line. it creams me to 30miles an hour. but then this thingjust keeps going. ok, it's irrelevant. it happens over 140,but i don't care. i think it's dead impressive. only the germans could take aclass of car like the hot
hatchback and turn itinto something as extraordinary as these two. but there's a definite winnerhere, and it's the one from the munich corner. the m135i is a crackinglittle car. and for the money, without allthose extras on it, at under 30,000 pounds, rememberingthat it does north to 100 miles an hour in under11 seconds, it is the bargain of the year.
ok, it's not perfect. but it does take the rs3'strousers down in many departments. i've been quite disappointedby this car. some people told me it was agood rs model, but i don't think it is. i think it understeers. i think it's a bit harshon the road. and where i expected it toblow the bmw away in a
straight line, it didn't. in fact, it got beatenultimately. so congratulations, bmw. that is a cracking car. but, of course, there's oneproviso here, and that is the audi showroom factor. that is an object. it's quite a machine, and i justknow that loads of people are going to buythose instead.
but they shouldn't, because ifyou like driving, that's a better car.
