Photo: Road&track
Coincidence or not, just after we published the video of Steve Dinan talking about starting up his company and developing special cars for the true diehard fans out there, reviews of the S3-R BMW 1M Coupe started coming out.
Now, what you should know is that the Dinan-enhanced 1M Coupe is an absolute beast and more than a rare sighting on any kind of road, no matter if it’s in Asia or just in front of the Dinan headquarters.
To better understand what we’re talking about you should know exactly what the S3-R is capable of. The 3-liter biturbo engine was taken up to 450 HP and 450 lb-ft (610 Nm) of torque, plenty to turn the 1,495 kg (3,295 lbs) car into a proper beast, all day long.
In case you didn’t know, the new M3 and M4, cars developed from the ground up by the Motorsport division engineers in Munich, use the same displacement and the same architecture. And yet, they kind-of fall short of what Dinan did here with 431 HP and 550 Nm (406 lb-ft) of torque.
The drastic power increase was achieved thanks to bigger turbochargers, a new exhaust, new intakes, new software and new intercoolers, all looking after the health of the N54 engine that was pushed to its limits.
The suspension was also improved, to keep up with the added power while the wheels went really overboard, to truly impressive sizes, especially on the rear axle.
All of these changes turned the car into a brilliant machine. As Road & Track puts it: “There’s nothing good left on the table. There’s no car left trapped inside, trying to get out. You could add more, but you couldn’t make it better.” And we agree.
If the stock version did the 100 km/h (62 mph) sprint in 4.9 seconds, imagine what this thing is capable of? Straight line drag racing is just the tip of the iceberg though. Go hard into a corner and you’ll immediately feel the perfectly balanced chassis do its job better than you’d ever expect with more than tire shredding power available on the exit.
The handling is superb and the steering wheel offers more feedback than you could ever expect. Traction control is a weird button in this car. Without it, things go pretty mental pretty quick. As Jalopnik put it: “Turning off the traction controls really reveal the car to be the brute it is. It's like yanking the tie off the Hulk and then slapping him a few times.” Now take a moment to imagine that.
In the end, you should know that this car is not for the faint hearted and it will get you in a lot of trouble, quickly! It’s so fast, you often forget just how fast you were going and by the time you realize you’re doing 100 in a 50 zone, a police car is definitely behind you.
Other than that, you should know that the complete kit costs $20,832. That’s if you get your hands on one of the less than 1,000 1M Coupe models that ever made it to the States.
To better understand what we’re talking about you should know exactly what the S3-R is capable of. The 3-liter biturbo engine was taken up to 450 HP and 450 lb-ft (610 Nm) of torque, plenty to turn the 1,495 kg (3,295 lbs) car into a proper beast, all day long.
In case you didn’t know, the new M3 and M4, cars developed from the ground up by the Motorsport division engineers in Munich, use the same displacement and the same architecture. And yet, they kind-of fall short of what Dinan did here with 431 HP and 550 Nm (406 lb-ft) of torque.
The drastic power increase was achieved thanks to bigger turbochargers, a new exhaust, new intakes, new software and new intercoolers, all looking after the health of the N54 engine that was pushed to its limits.
The suspension was also improved, to keep up with the added power while the wheels went really overboard, to truly impressive sizes, especially on the rear axle.
All of these changes turned the car into a brilliant machine. As Road & Track puts it: “There’s nothing good left on the table. There’s no car left trapped inside, trying to get out. You could add more, but you couldn’t make it better.” And we agree.
If the stock version did the 100 km/h (62 mph) sprint in 4.9 seconds, imagine what this thing is capable of? Straight line drag racing is just the tip of the iceberg though. Go hard into a corner and you’ll immediately feel the perfectly balanced chassis do its job better than you’d ever expect with more than tire shredding power available on the exit.
The handling is superb and the steering wheel offers more feedback than you could ever expect. Traction control is a weird button in this car. Without it, things go pretty mental pretty quick. As Jalopnik put it: “Turning off the traction controls really reveal the car to be the brute it is. It's like yanking the tie off the Hulk and then slapping him a few times.” Now take a moment to imagine that.
In the end, you should know that this car is not for the faint hearted and it will get you in a lot of trouble, quickly! It’s so fast, you often forget just how fast you were going and by the time you realize you’re doing 100 in a 50 zone, a police car is definitely behind you.
Other than that, you should know that the complete kit costs $20,832. That’s if you get your hands on one of the less than 1,000 1M Coupe models that ever made it to the States.
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