The BMW 1 Series... 118i to be exact was the car of the day that needed to be driven to Langebaan and I volunteered just to get behind the wheel and experience a car I was initially interested in purchasing while scoping out the car scene back home. Yes, how could I want to buy a car and not taking it for a test drive? No... I'm not that dumb. Just gave up on the option when I had a squizz at the prices it was being sold at.
Driving Miss Crazy
It was pretty easy getting all my things into the car, figuring out the remote control key and then opening up the boot, which was disappointingly small. I got into the drivers seat and started the car with the start/stop button and plopping in the clutch for the car to start. Laying out a comfortable driving position is what caused the first problem cause it pretty much sucked trying to get my seat at the right height (Yes, I'm disadvantaged in size; 5ft 4inch is not amazing but I still rock). I won't lie, I battled for about 10 minutes cause every position didn't feel right and looked like I was hugging the steering wheel. I had to get out of the car to get the seat heightner working in the pouring rain. Once that was done, did I only notice how kak the layout is with the clutch, brake and accelerator.
The car for the day - on the left if you didn't get the drift
Close your eyes
Imagine your pedals in your car... now move your clutch to the right a bit so there is a foot rest where it was and angle your foot to the right. Well that's how it is and super close to the break which in my opinion, is uncool. So the whole time my left foot is at an angle when changing using the clutch to change gears. Major fail BMW.
Number 2 or 3; the seats are uncomfortable. Enough said. The steering wheel is super cute but for a car that has power steering, it's horribly stiff. Could this be due to the size of the wheel? I have no idea but it felt like I was driving my old Corsa which had the same size sports steering wheel aka the tractor turner. I'll just let that one go.
What got me the most, wasn't really all of the above but how hard of a ride she is. Seriously... I felt like I was on the road, bum on the ground, getting an ass massage. Hard, bumpy drive and I'm not sure if that has to do with it being a racing suspension - it probably does - but dear god, driving at 120 on the West Coast road makes for a very unpleasant ride. Speaking of the West Coast road... she did overtake well but had to drop her down a gear or two to get the proper speed and power to overtake. There was none of that putting foot down on the accelerator and she would be off, style driving. That could also be turned on me and said that's the point of driving. Yes, I agree but she lacked the power that I've experienced in my Audi, my friend's Audi, Volvo s40 T5 and well my uncle's BMW 3 series etc.
The free massage comes to an end...
When I finally got to Langebaan and arrived at my destination, I met up with the person whose car it was and she asked me how it went? I said... it's nice but quite a hard ride (I was being nice yoh). She then asked if I would buy the 1 series? I 'aaaaaaaahed' for about 10 seconds and she said what pretty much summed up it up: "You're either an Audi fan or BMW fan".
And that my friends... is how the story goes. I Robyn Cara Silverstone, am officially an Audi fan and thats the reason why my legs go weak at the sight of the Audi R8 or why I smile when I get into my A3 everyday and why I continue to dream of driving an A5. I am smitten with those four rings of awesomeness.
So BMW fans... let me know if I've misjudged your brand
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