The BMW 1 Series M Coupe adventure continues: courtesy of some logistical brilliance by the BMW PR team, I’ve got one parked outside my house for the next 5 days.

The car was BMW’s SMMT Test Day model, which I drove away from Millbrook, thus realising a dream quite a few people who sampled it on the day had. Kid in a sweet shop time: here’s a 5-day driving impressions log of what the BMW 1 Series M Coupe is like in the real world.

Thursday 26 May

Away from SMMT, and straight onto the M1 for the schlep to London and the Ford of Britain Centenary dinner. Luckily, sat nav is standard on the 1M, so I could judge just how late I’d be: damned traffic.

In said traffic, the heavyish clutch is a bit of a pain over time, and the meaty gearbox requires the usual BMW ‘learning’ to realise its slick brilliance.

But what a marvelous in-city car it is, too. Visibility is great (a low shoulderline gives great over-shoulder views) and the ridiculously easy access to all that torque means no gap will ever be missed. Ride? Taut, albeit not crashy. The chassis also feels wide enough to straddle anything – traffic calming irritations included.

The drive back up the M40 was late, and completely effortless. It feels deliciously over-engined which means high-speed runs barely break a sweat. The low seats are excellent and stability is assured: again, it’s firm, but not uncomfortable, and reassuringly well tied down at high speeds.

Average economy? On the way down, 29.4mpg. Trip back, 26.4mpg. Reasonable, given how this was hardly eco-run time.

Oh, and one thing that’ll live with me for a long time will be how mean and moody it looked in the central London garage. As raw, pumped, extreme and industrial as the concret-block car park itself. Brilliant.

Friday 27 May

Busy day with deadlines means lots of in-town rushing around. I notice the oil temp gauge takes quite a long time to register – there’s a fair bit of engine there to warm up, and there’s never any high-revvery from me until any engine is so. Don’t need high revs in these situations, though. It’s so potent, 3000rpm is way more than enough.

Still haven’t cracked the gearshift, mind. Every time I’m new to a BMW, it takes time for it to switch from notchy and stiff to sublimely slick and quick. I think it’s a factor of clutch position and speed of shift. I overanalyse it every single time, just as I’m doing here.

Think I should just get on with driving it – alas, no time. That’ll have to wait until the weekend…

Saturday 28 May

Back into the M, properly – and, to ensure assessments are comprehensive, it’s off to the shopping centre. First, a discovery: the rubber lashing straps in the boot make THE perfect helmet holders. BMW really does think of all the priorities…

Girlfriend Tam loves the interior Alcantara, reckons the seats are particularly low and bolstered, and is pensive when it starts up to the burbling exhaust rort. Means only one thing: speedy.

I’m good, but I do give her one little taster. Verdict? A squeal and a few minutes of palpitations. Yup, she’s fast. Tam also notices the stiff ride, which all leaves her slightly on edge. Tiptoe-alert is great for the driver but perhaps not for all passengers.

Other observations – the door arm rests are too narrow and hard, which has me looking round for other awkward elements in the getting-dated interior. Changing gear smoothly involves judging when you lift off the accelerator, too: there’s none of the delay you get in other cars. The headlight washers appear to have the force of a Karcher pressure washer (at night, the beam patter actually dims, so forceful is the spray of fluid).

Average? Again, 26.1mpg.

Sunday 29 May

Cleaned it today: those CSL 19″s take an age. Notice also how short the roof is: this is a proper 1970s shilouette, as explained to me by designer Tim Rice at the Coupe’s launch.

Had a cracking in-city drive. So immediate and ample is the torque, you can get the rear sitting down an livening up with real ease. It’s a bit like a kart on tight switchback roads, with similar agility and standout tenacity.

Cracked the gearchange, too. It’s all down to how smartly you lift off the throttle and play with the reverse torque. Wonder if the lightened flywheel accentuates it? Certainly makes it deliciously vibrant through the gears.

Another start-up highlights the exhaust crackle-rumble. When cold, it sounds as if there’s a faint flume of fire flowing out: I love the buzz through the seat from them too. The noise seems to be coming from the absolute tips of them – magnified, of course, by there being four. Brilliant.

Monday 30 May

1 in 4 people in the UK buy the same colour car each year. In 1998, revealed the SMMT, this would be a red car. In 2008, though, it was silver.

Think this has led to a big change in the UK motoring scene? Well, yes, in a sense, it has. 12 years ago, car showrooms were heavy on the red.

Today, every new car on the road seems to be silver, such is the dominance of the designer’s favourite hue.

However, the changes may not be as big as you think. Second-favourite in 1998? Blue. Second-favourite in 2008? Er, blue… Different shades of, granted, but still consistent dominance.

3rd in 1998 was white. 3rd in 2008 was black. This initially had me questioning the stats: surely, given white’s current popularity, it should be the other way around? Ah but no. Speak to anyone in the industry and they’ll say the current white flurry is led by fashion. White wasn’t quite in fashion during 2008. It’s a more recent thing: thus, how long will it last?

Back to silver, though. It sat in 5th place back in 1998, with just 9 percent of people choosing it. By its very nature, though, silver is metallic, so means a cost-extra on most cars. Is the switch thus just a change of a wealthier economy? Or is it car brands’ modern-day, cynically-dull non-metallic paint colour options..?

Do please, ahem, feel free to spell out your thoughts in black and white (groan).

Top colours 2008
1 Silver: 25%
2 Blue: 24%
3 Black: 14%
4 Red: 13%
5 Green: 9%

Top colours 1998
1 Red: 26%
2 Blue: 25%
3 White: 13%
4 Green: 10%
5 Silver: 9%

Peugeot car ads give the game away

BMW PR shows professionalism of industry

Audi gets Ashes To Ashes at Geneva

TWO decades ago, the car industry was in a recession, too. 1991 was a year of depression, sales shrinkages and dealer drama.

Sound familiar? Well, looking at the news of the day, the parallels extend far further than that. Yearly sales were around 1.8 million, well down on the all-time record of 2.3 million in 1989. Rather similar to this year’s prediction, too.

This led, explained Autocar & Motor’s David Sutherland, to ‘plant idling’ – shutting plants down for weeks and months on end. Honda, Nissan and MINI will be familiar with this.

He also looked at a few individual brands, rating their performance over the year.

Ford used to claim 30 percent, but the maker was suffering, mainly because of the rubbish Escort. 25 percent was the total experts said it would have to put up with (today, Ford commands 17.5 percent. There’s a difference).

Rover (remember them?) was still doing well – the Brit-built Metro was brilliant, as were the 200 and 400. Even the archaic Maestro and Montego were finding homes in large lease and daily rental fleets, albeit with massive discounts.

Citroen was on the up, with the ZX bringing market share up to around 3.5-4 percent. Again, oddly similar to what it holds today. Funnily, expert Garel Rhys noted the firm’s pricing throughout the ‘80s was competitive, ‘and it will have to beep up the aggressive marketing strategy’…

BMW was pleased: here is where the 3 Series really started its shift to the mainstream, with the launch of the E36. Sutherland reckoned the biggest problem would be getting enough right-hookers.

‘It’s a good time to launch a small car because in this recession a lot of people are considering down-sizing,’ said a BMW GB chief.

Lest we forget, Japanese makers were still selling under quotas, meaning they were cushioned against the recession. Nissan was the largest: it could sell 6 percent of the UK market total. Interesting, and not long to last.

But, today and quota-free, is there really that much difference in volumes? Toyota has 5 percent, Nissan has 3.2 percent, Mazda has 2.3 percent…

There were differences, though. In 2009, it’s been scrappage-boosted private buyers who have kept the market up. Company car drivers did that in 1991 – retail sales were knocked by price rises and high interest rates. The latter isn’t a factor now, and scrappage has reduced the impact of the latter.

18 years ago seems like only yesterday, yet you’d still think there would be huge changes in the UK market. And, with no Rover and more makers eating into Ford’s share, there have indeed been.

Still, though, the framework remains intriguingly familiar…

If Ford played chess, don’t take it on

Why scrappage is now inevitable

Ford gloom hides people carrier revolution?

I used to run a Peugeot 308 as a long-termer. Fine car, it was. Interior better built than a Golf, peachy HDi engine, and one of the nicest dial packs around.

Cost £20k, though. Bit much, I used to think, for a family hatch.

Ah, how things change. Now, 18 months on, 308s are a fair bit cheaper. Well, according to my local dealer they are. £11,995, they’ll do you one for. That’s £3700 off list – brand new.

This is cheap. And good. Unless you’re Peugeot.

See, last year, Peugeot told me they weren’t selling as many 407s, because everyone was downsizing, into 308s.

Fair enough, I thought. With prices like that, you’ll still be able to maintain profits.

But, if dealers are willingly offering ‘scrappage x2’ to customers before they even walk through the door – on new, unregistered (the ad states this – no pre-reg here) 308s, what does that say for the car’s fortunes?

Contrast this with the 107, a car so very much on the money. The saving there is £1k – which, conveniently, is exactly what the Government is asking car makers to put in to the new car scrap scheme.

In short, up to now, Peugeot’s easily sold 107s. But 308s have proven a fair bit trickier. Hence the respective savings.

The 207 sits somewhere in the middle of these two, which sounds about right to me, too. All of which means I’ve devised a new test.

You don’t need to look at SMMT figures. Find out which cars are doing well, and which aren’t by scanning the dealer offers in the local paper, instead. I’ll do this for a few weeks, then get onto the SMMT, and see how right I am…

Why car scrappage is now inevitable

Citroen C1 RV threat?

Car world news on your doorstep?

HEAVENS, I’m admitting something here. That I used to be in Chess Club at College.

OK, not for long. And I did used to put Breeders tapes (yes, tapes) on in the background. But, partake I did. Which is why I know Ford is like a member of said Club.

The feared member. The Club player I never dared play. The champ, the whizz, the one who nobody could beat – his moves were like a perfectly-placed onslaught of brilliance from the off. The git.

Bit like Ford right now (well, apart from the git bit).

Market share is booming. The right cars are flying out of the showrooms just at the right time. The dealers find they’re still able to make all the right noises for customers.

Checkmate, rivals.

It’s almost momentous, Ford happening to launch the brand-new, brilliant, bedazzling Fiesta and pretty decent Ka, just as the country enters a major recession and switches wholesale (well, 35 percent or so, according to the SMMT) to superminis.

Think of the Blue Oval right now just as we thought of the St Georges Cross flag seller, in the 2002 World Cup. Yes, him, on the beach in the Costa del Sol right now.

Is this by chance or design? Did Ford foresee changing market conditions? Did it intentionally make the Fiesta so damn great because it KNEW the market was switching this way?

Whatever, it’s working. Historically so. Mainstream is back in vogue, and the blue collar’s fave is reaping the benefits.

Damn, it’s good. You won’t catch me taking it on. Now, where’s me Breeders tape…

The most depressing engines in esistance: Ford 1.8D

Ford gloom hides people carrier revolution?

Weller does a MINI Silverstone gig

So far, new car sales have fallen by 28 percent. The new car market is predicted to fall from over 2 million new car sales, to 1.7 million sales, or less.

Yet the SMMT says it could be boosted by 250,000 sales in an 18-month period by a new car scrappage scheme.

It would have to incorporate nearly new green cars to be of any benefit, though, a leasing company boss told Fleet News. Surprisingly, he said this would have to cover cars up to four years old.

This would stimulate the used car market and thus boost the new car market.

But, isn’t the used market already thriving, as buyers seek extra value? Aren’t car auctions seeing record results and a shortage of stock? I think he’s barking up the wrong tree here.

… Fleet sales once accounted for over half the new car market. Now, due to the recession, it’s down to 44.8 percent. Retail sales are, relatively, booming, taking 55.2 percent.

This is despite reports that retail customers are sitting tight, waiting for the Government to decide on a scrappage scheme. If it comes, I’d expect the proportion to become even more skewed.

… Those fields of cars we keep seeing on the news are just an illusion. Actually, fleet bosses say, there are not loads of cars sitting ready to go. So, huge fleet discounts are not on the table. One chief told Fleet News that swingeing cutbacks by car makers last year have slashed inventories.

… Car makers making the best of the recession include Ford, whose market share is approaching 20 percent – a massive increase on 15 percent last year. French makers are struggling, though. Citroen has 2.8 percent, Peugeot 3.8 percent (down from 6.1 percent) and Renault just 2.7 percent (down from 5.7 percent).