BMW 1 series VS Abarth 595
BMW 1 series
Likes
- Driving dynamics and performance
- Front-row layout
- Pricing remains competitive
Dislikes
- New face might divide opinion
- Second-row amenities lacking
- A tad thirsty
Abarth 595
Likes
- Good engine/chassis combo
- Surprising grip levels
- Unusual
Dislikes
- Terrible driving position
- Ride not great around town
- No reversing camera
Summary
BMW 1 series
Can you believe the 1 Series is already in its fourth generation? It might not look incredibly like it, because this new car looks a little like the third.
But it’s been more than half a decade since the F40 1 Series debuted, so BMW decided it was already time for a new kid on the block. Meet the F70.
It’s just landed in Australia and it promises new-gen tech and features compared with its predecessor. We checked out BMW’s new baby at its Australian launch to find out if it delivers.
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| Safety rating | — |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | — |
| Fuel Type | 95 Ron |
| Fuel Efficiency | 6.4L/100km |
| Seating | — |
Abarth 595
Since 1949, Abarth has been giving the venerable Italian brand, Fiat, a patina of performance, based largely on giant-killing feats in small modified cars like the Fiat 600 of the 1960s.
More recently, the brand has been revived to boost the fortunes of the smallest Fiat on sale in Australia. Known formally as the Abarth 595, the tiny hatch packs a bit of a surprise under its distinctive snout.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 1.4L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Regular Unleaded Petrol |
| Fuel Efficiency | 5.8L/100km |
| Seating | 4 seats |
Verdict
BMW 1 series7.9/10
A brief dalliance with the 1 Series has left me impressed, if wanting to spend more time with it to get a better assessment of the day-to-day liveability of BMW’s entry-level model.
It’s a compelling offering if you’re after a premium small car, and even without the performance of the M135, the 118 is feature-packed.
Keeping pricing competitive should help the 1 Series buck the trend of buyers opting for small SUVs, but ultimately it’s just refreshing to see BMW putting effort into keeping a hatchback relevant (and up-to-date).
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with meals provided.
Abarth 5955.8/10
It’s tough to be kind to the Abarth 595. Based on a platform that’s more than a decade old, the car has been left behind by its rivals in many ways, including basic ergonomics and its value equation.
The larger engine does work well in this smaller package, and its road-holding ability belies its size. However, only die-hard fans of the Abarth brand will be able to cope with the uncomfortable seating position and a complete lack of even the most perfunctory features that cars costing $10,000 less are able to offer.
Could you look past the Abarth 595's foibles? Let us know in the comments below.
Design
BMW 1 series
The 1 Series has worn many faces over the generations and, like a lot of BMW designs that depart from tradition, this one might need to grow on some people.
That’s not to say there’s not a lot to like about the F70, but as BMW evolves its design language some changes might ruffle feathers - a lack of the iconic ‘angel eye’ headlight style being one.
But there’s still a kidney grille up front, with new design elements, plus those headlights that have a new vertical light signature are now sleeker than before, giving the new 1 a different ‘character’.
But from the rear, there are baby 3 Series Touring vibes, and it’s hard to find anything that might upset purists - there’s even the 'Hoffmeister kink' at the c-pillar. That’s the way the window angles back towards the front at the bottom.
Inside, the 1 Series has some proper sporty elements, even in the 118, that reference the M development that went into it.
There’s M-coloured stitching up over the dash fabric, for example, and illuminated aluminium panels with M-coloured lighting.
The steering wheel, wrapped in leather, is also an M feature, plus sporty seats are even present in the 118.
The interior is an overall cleaner look, in part thanks to the proliferation of features accessible by touchscreen, but BMW is refraining from going full ‘Tesla’ and removing all the buttons from the cabin.
Abarth 5957/10
Despite being based on a design that’s a decade old, the Abarths still stand out. Based on the classic Fiat 500 shape of the 1950 and '60s, it’s more cute than cut-throat, with a narrow track and tall roof giving it a toy-like presence.
The Abarth attempts to beef things up with deep front and rear bumper splitters, go-fast stripes, new headlights and alternate-colour wing mirrors.
The 595 rides on 16-inch rims, while the Competizione runs 17s.
Inside, it’s definitely different to most mainstream cars, with colour-coded plastic panels on the dash and a very upright seating position, along with a dual-tone steering wheel.
It’s a love-it-or-hate-it proposition. There’s no middle ground here.
Practicality
BMW 1 series
Yes, a brand like BMW would probably find it hard to do away with buttons for things like drive modes and things like volume controls or car settings.
Even though a lot of them are shortcuts to a touchscreen menu, it means not needing to scroll or hunt for important driving-based features and options on the 10.25-inch screen.
Even the climate controls are permanently available on the screen so that there’s minimal distraction.
For most non-essential features, however, BMW’s Operating System 9 is a far cry from the easy-to-use iDrive system of just a few years ago, the media control wheel that fell easily to hand and navigated a simple multimedia system of only a few sub-menus.
Fortunately, the screen and everything in the cabin is within reach of the driver, so there’s no awkward leaning or stretching to do anything mid-drive.
The cabin’s physical space is otherwise nicely laid-out, the phone charger pad is out of the way, cupholders fit most receptacles nicely and the door card can hold two regular water bottles plus other small items.
There’s even a small storage ‘shelf’ under the central vents, and near the wireless charger are two USB-C ports and a 12-volt plug.
The ergonomics of the driving position and steering wheel are well-sorted, and seat adjustment and height feels good for both engaged or relaxed driving positions.
Behind that, the second row could be more spacious, even though I managed to fit my 178cm frame behind my own seating position just fine.
There’s not a lot of room to move or stretch out, so most adults will probably find the back seat suitable for short trips only.
Behind that, there’s 380 litres of boot space, or 1200L with the seats folded down.
Abarth 5954/10
This is another area where the Abarth falls down. First and foremost, the seating position for the driver in both cars is utterly compromised.
The seat itself is mounted far, far, too high, and has little adjustment in any direction, and there is no reach adjustment in the steering wheel column to allow a taller (or even an average height) driver to get comfortable.
The more expensive Competizione we tested was fitted with a set of optional sports bucket seats from racing company Sabelt, but even they are mounted literally 10cm too high. They are also ultra firm, and even though they look supportive, lack decent side bolster support.
The tiny multimedia screen is okay to use, but the buttons are miniscule, while there’s a complete lack of storage places in the front.Â
There are two cupholders under the centre console, with two more in between the front seats for rear seat passengers. There are no bottle holders in the doors and no storage for rear seaters.
Speaking of the rear seats, they are the very definition of cramped, with little headroom for moderately sized adults and precious little knee or toe room. There are two sets of ISOFIX baby seat mounting points, though, should you fancy wrestling your wriggling toddlers through the narrow aperture.
The seats flip forward to reveal more cargo space (185 litres with the seats up, and 550 litres when the seats are down), but the seat backs don’t fold flat into the floor. Under the boot floor is a can of sealant and a pump, but no space saver spare.
In truth, it was a long day testing this car… at 187cm, I simply could not get comfortable in it at all.
Price and features
BMW 1 series
The 1 Series isn’t much more expensive than before, despite a decent uptick in kit.
At $56,500 before on-roads for the entry grade 118, it’s less than $2000 pricier than its predecessor. It’s about the price of a VW Golf GTI or Subaru WRX, but trades engine power for badge power, as well as a series of features you’d expect from a premium small car.
A 10.25-inch multimedia touchscreen and 10.7-inch driver display are standard, with wireless phone charging, electric heated seats in Veganza synthetic leather, adaptive suspension and plenty of sporty styling thanks to the M Sport pack.
There’s a few more helpful features for keen drivers, even in the 118. Adaptive LED headlights with high beam assist, a head-up display, BMW’s 'Parking Assist Plus' function, speed limit recognition and tyre pressure monitoring.
The 1 Series also has keyless entry and start, an automatic tailgate, plus some standard stuff like a 40/60 split-fold rear seat and (unfortunately) a tyre repair kit under the boot floor rather than a spare tyre.
Then there’s the M135 xDrive, the hot hatch of the pair.
It starts at $82,500 and comes with extras like a massage seat for the driver, a heated steering wheel, a Harman/Kardon sound system, racier styling and a black roof, plus performance goodies like a bigger engine.
The M135 is a bit more expensive than before though, by almost $6000, and comparable rivals like the Audi S3 remain in the mid-$70K range.
Two options packs are available, with the 118's $5000 Enhancement Pack adding Metallic paint, 19-inch M alloys, a heated steering wheel, a sunroof, massaging front seats, a Harman/Kardon sound system and Driving Assistant Professional.
There's also an M Sport Package Pro able to be added to either variant, which adds sportier M styling, a black roof for the 118, and M Sports seats for the front row. This pack costs $2462 for the 118 or $2700 for the M135 xDrive.
Two options packs are available, with the 118's $5000 Enhancement Pack adding Metallic paint, 19-inch M alloys, a heated steering wheel, a sunroof, massaging front seats, a Harman/Kardon sound system and Driving Assistant Professional.There's also an M Sport Package Pro able to be added to either variant, which adds sportier M styling, a black roof for the 118, and M Sports seats for the front row. This pack costs $2462 for the 118 or $2700 for the M135 xDrive.
Abarth 5954/10
The range has been stripped back to just two cars, and costs has come down slightly, with the 595 now starting at $26,990, plus on-road costs.Â
A new 5.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system (with digital radio), a leather wrapped steering wheel, TFT dash display, rear parking sensors, alloy pedals, 16-inch alloy rims, and (front-only) adaptive dampers are standard on the base 595.
A convertible, or more accurately, a rag-top (cabriolet) version of the 595 is also available for $29,990.
The 595 Competizione is now a whopping $8010 cheaper at $31,990 with a manual gearbox, leather seats (Sabelt-branded sports buckets are optional), 17-inch alloys, a louder Monza exhaust, as well as front and rear adaptive Koni shocks, and Eibach springs.
Unfortunately, what stands out more on the Abarths is what they don’t come with. Auto lights and wipers, cruise control of any sort, driver aids including AEB and adaptive cruise… even a rear view camera is missing.
What’s more puzzling is that the Abarth’s architecture, though a decade old, has provision to accept at least a rear view camera.
Abarth’s explanation that the car’s home market doesn’t see these inclusions as important doesn’t really hold water, either.
In terms of value, the lack of basic content sends the Abarth to the bottom of a competitive pile that includes both the Ford Fiesta ST and the Volkswagen Polo GTI.
Under the bonnet
BMW 1 series
The two 1 Series variants have rather different running gear.
The 118 comes with a 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine that drives the front wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT).
It makes 115kW and 230Nm, and BMW says it’ll hit 100km/h in 8.5 seconds.
That’s in comparison to the beefier 2.0-litre four-cylinder unit in the M135, also turbocharged, but driving all four wheels via a similar seven-speed DCT.
It makes 233kW and 400Nm, and it’ll crack 100km/h in 4.9 seconds according to the Bavarian brand.
Abarth 5957/10
The Abarth 595 pair use the same 1.4-litre 'MultiJet' four-cylinder turbo engine in differing states of tune. The base car makes 107kW/206Nm, while the Competizione makes 132kW/250Nm, thanks to a freer-flowing exhaust, a larger Garrett-branded turbocharger and an ECU re-tune.
The base car can do 0-100km/h in 7.8 seconds, while the Competizione is 1.2 seconds quicker; the optional 'Dualogic' automatic is 0.2sec slower to the mark in both cars.
A five-speed manual gearbox is standard, and neither car is fitted with a limited slip diff.
Efficiency
BMW 1 series
BMW says the 118 will sip 6.4 litres of recommended 95 RON fuel for every 100km covered, with its 49-litre tank the same as the M135’s.
In that variant, fuel use increases to 7.8L/100km, as does recommended fuel quality to 98 RON.
We didn’t get a chance to test fuel consumption properly on the launch, so keep an eye on a future review for that, but given the relatively high claim even for the 118, we’d expect the 1 Series isn’t the most frugal drinker.
Abarth 5957/10
Over 150km of testing, the Competizione consumed a dash-indicated 8.7 litres per 100km, against a claimed combined fuel economy figure of 6.0L/100km. Our brief test of the 595 revealed a similar number, against the same claimed figure.
The Abarth will only accept 95 octane fuel or better, and its small 35-litre tank is good for a theoretical 583km between fills.
Driving
BMW 1 series
The launch drive for the 1 Series included some outer-suburban Melbourne traffic, a stint of highway driving down towards the Mornington Peninsula, and a semi-rural road loop for each variant before the return journey.
So, noting that we didn’t quite get the chance to really work out what it might be like to live with the 1 Series day-to-day, first impressions showed good signs.
Both variants still drive much like you’d expect from even a front-drive BMW, let alone the AWD M135, but the chassis and suspension seem like they’d be good counterparts on a daily drive.
In the M135, communication and compliance seemed well-balanced with each other for even some particularly rough surfaces, and after torrential rain there were some potholes that would properly upset most cars that didn’t faze the 1 Series too much.
The 118 seemed to let a little more road noise into the cabin, but that might have been a symptom of different road surfaces.
The steering is accurate, but the feel in both is a little heavier than needed, especially with the thick-rimmed BMW steering wheel that you’ll know about if you’ve driven anything from Munich in recent years.
It’s a very easy car to drive fast, especially with the combination of 233kW, 400Nm, and all-wheel drive at the M135’s disposal.
The chassis and tyres work quite well together to not only hold a corner at impressive speed, but also keep the car stable so that traction isn’t an issue when launching out.
There’s also the joy of hearing a turbo spool and flutter under load, which is hard to deny as a draw for petrolheads.
Abarth 5955/10
Ergonomics aside, the combination of torquey engine and lightweight car is always a good one, and the 1.4-litre turbocharged four is a good match with the front-drive Abarth.
There’s always enough mid-range urge to give the Abarth the hurry-up, and the longer-legged five-speed gearbox is a good match for the engine.
It also grips and turns surprisingly well, despite the Sport button adding too much artificial weight to the Abarth’s steering feel.Â
That same button also firms up the front dampers on the 595 and all four on the Competizione, which works well on smoother terrain, but stiffens it too much over more undulating surfaces.
Around town it can be hard to strike a good balance between ride and comfort. The difference between soft and firm is much more pronounced in the Competizione, but it will still get tiring if your commute is a bumpy one.Â
The turning circle, by the by, is ridiculously large for such a small car, making u-turns - already compromised by the lower front bumper - unnecessarily fraught.
The Monza exhaust on the Competizione gives it a bit more presence, but it could easily be louder (or at least more crackly) again; you’re not buying this car to be a wallflower, after all.
Safety
BMW 1 series
There’s plenty of active safety in the new 1 Series, new kit includes an updated 'Driving Assistant Plus', BMW calls it.
It features all the driving assist functions like lane departure warnings and rear cross-traffic alert, but the M135 gets a higher-spec version with extras like front cross-traffic alert, side collision prevention, and evasion assist.
This can be added to the 118 for $5000 in the Enhancement Package, but it seems a bit stiff to put safety features behind a paywall alongside items like a sunroof and a high-end audio system.
Mercifully, the 1 Series’ active safety systems are all pretty unobtrusive. There are very few ‘bings and bongs’ as we’ve come to call them, and any warnings are generally subtle.
There’s a quick way to turn most of them off via a physical button near the gear selector, and its adaptive cruise control is well tuned for urban, highway and rural driving.
Otherwise, the third-gen 1 Series scored five stars with ANCAP in 2019, so we will wait and see if its successor maintains that score.
It’s also got six airbags including front and side, as well as curtain airbags covering both rows.
Abarth 5955/10
Despite a lack of electronic safety aids – and, somewhat amazingly in the current age, a rear-view camera – the Fiat 500 that forms the Abarth's basis still carries the maximum five-star rating from ANCAP it was awarded in 2008, by dint of its seven airbags and bodyshell strength.Â
It wouldn’t have the same luck if it were judged under new ANCAP regs coming into force in 2018, though.
Ownership
BMW 1 series
BMW’s got a fairly standard five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.
The brand also uses a condition-based servicing system, which uses the multimedia to alert the owner when maintenance is required.
There are servicing packages which remove some of that uncertainty, in the 1 Series’ case a five-year, 80,000km pack costs $2210.
Abarth 5957/10
A three-year/150,000km warranty is offered as standard on the Abarth 595 range, with a suggested service interval of 12 months or 15,000km.
Abarth importer Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Australia offers three fixed-priced services for the 595 range at 15,000, 30,000 and 45,000km, with the first costing $275.06, the second $721.03 and the third $275.06.