Honey I shrunk the M3

F1 technology eventually makes it into your next family saloon. That's why environmentalists will never win their fight against the emissions-spewing jewel in motorsport's crown. It's the main advantage manufacturers cite when pressed about their dirty, dirty racing exploits. "Yes, we spew soot into the atmosphere, but our next active aerodynamic invention will save your life one day when you approach a highway exit at 180kph", they say.

So we need F1 to further our achievements in safety, regenerative energy, reliability, and more power from less displacement. And every once in a while, F1 proves good by lending its colours to the cars we drive daily. OK, let's just forget the Michael Schumacher edition Fiat Seicento — probably the lowest point in the man's career — and focus on the proper F1-team-derived stuff. How about Renaultsport's Clio and Megane, which get more power, lighter components and stripped out interiors, plus a bunch of stickers and F1 title boasts showing off the team's 2005 and 2006 victories.

If you go further back to Renault's involvement with Williams, you may remember the Clios that were deemed some of the best hot-hatches ever made. Lotus too made good use of its racing exploits to shift cars off of showroom floors, with the Esprit JPS mimicking the F1 bolide's black and gold paint job. And I don't think I need to delve into McLaren; instead of gimmicky stickers and ditching of rear seats, they just build an entire car and, for maximum exploitation, call it the F1. Which brings me onto the BMW 1 Series Sauber Edition, because I'm done thinking up previous similar exercises by other carmakers.

All show no go?

Yes, BMW is quitting the sport, but that hasn't stopped the Munich firm from pulling one last treat out of its goodie box. The BMW 1 Series Sauber Edition is limited to 200 examples worldwide, and 20 are available exclusively at Abu Dhabi Motors. All are white with Sauber colours down the flanks and a plaque inside stating that what you're in is a special Abu Dhabi car. But it's not just about colouring in between the dots; the rest of the car also manages to live up to its F1 moniker.

You get a blacked out kidney grille in the style of old M cars, anthracite wheels, carbon fibre mirrors and a Gurney flap wing, a rear diffuser, M badges on the door sills (beats me why they did this, it's not an actual M car, but more on that in a bit), carbon fibre trim on the dash and doors and a very kitsch but awesome steering wheel that houses shift lights and a display giving you a quarter-mile and lap timer, vital temperatures and pressures and even a G meter.

Why would you need a G meter in a 1 Series? Well, first off, because it's a 135i — which means 306bhp from a 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged six — and second, because AC Schnitzer put a hand in it — which means an extra 54 horses, a 4.9 second sprint and a 293kph top speed. Oh, and meatier brakes and a performance exhaust. Now that's the kind of thing you put an F1 signature on, Schumi.

BMW dared me to get 1G out of that steering wheel meter, but since I don't live on a race track, the best I could do was 0.7, which is fast enough in a tiny 1 Series with massive downforce on top of the boot lid from all that weave. It really works; this car handles like it's on ice through slow turns, making you work the suede wheel like a hyperactive kid with an unfair amount of tokens for the Daytona USA arcade game. But once you build up some speed, which is laughably easy with all that power, the back end claws at the surface relentlessly. That wing works wonders.

And it needs to. Like I said, the BMW 1 Series Sauber Edition is fast, and I mean M3 fast. It's half a second quicker to 100kph than a standard 135i, and is an actual match for the M3's time.

When you get in, you need to hold the traction control button down for five seconds, which unleashes all the extra AC Schnitzer horses, and of course switches the TC off, so hold onto your shorts. Then once you slither out of the parking lot, sliding around like a D1 Grand Prix car despite the slightest throttle input, you'll hit 200 way too quickly and scare yourself cross-eyed through the first bend. But, confidence rises as rapidly as the speedometer in this car, and it's very easy to get to grips with the drifts. After a couple of attempts, you realise that all the counter steering you need is about a quarter lock, because, though heavy, the steering is responsive and communicative.

Mini M3

The reason why this is a special edition is that if BMW offered you one out of its own factory, you would stride past an M3 every time and opt for the mental 1 Series. The only problem is the price, because in the end, it's just a tiny 1 Series. Although when you consider the gains over a standard car it's well worth it, even if just for that AC Schnitzer bit and the ‘1 out of 20' plaque. And that's really the only fault with this BMW 1 Series Sauber Edition; there are just 20.

Specs & Rating