With the BMW 1-Series for the US on hold, it's tempting to evoke sour grapes and just ignore the thing. To do so out of spite, however, would mean pretending Hartge didn't turn its tuner 1-Series into one of the hottest hatchbacks ever. Spite, as it turns out, is for suckers.
Think all you want that jamming a worked-over 5.0-liter V8 — 450 hp, 376 lbs-ft of torque — into such a small car is overkill (of the Sunbeam Tiger variety). Even at 3,200lbs, for all the power the thing has at hand, it might as well be the weight of grandma's shopping trolly. Plus, considering its top speed of 188mph, the car's race-bred braking system — eight piston front brake calipers and 380 mm cross-drilled floating rotors — is like a parachute would be to a plummeting skydiver. Next year, we've got to get to the Essen motor show — we hear the place is lousy with stuff like this.
Fastest BMW 1 Series : HARTGE H1 5.0 [German Car Fans]
Related:
BMW s 1-Series in Geneva [internal]
