It has decent pick-up at lower speeds, while also retaining composure at motorway speeds, and it’s pleasantly quiet as well.
If you stick it in Sport mode and play with the throttle, you will get more sound and response from it, but this engine is at its best when doing the sort of quiet, unassuming driving that most family hatch buyer will get up to.
We would have to drive it back to back with an A3 or A-Class, but the 1 Series can certainly hold its own.
Step up to the M135 and the extra power is obvious. And while there might be a slight reduction in outright power from the previous generation (putting it slightly behind both the Mercedes-AMG A35 and Volkswagen Golf R), you would be hard pressed to notice that ‘missing’ 6bhp: it will still complete the 0-62mph sprint in 4.9sec and there’s a pleasing hot hatch ferocity to it.
That’s partly because the peak torque output of 295lb ft can be accessed from just 2000rpm, giving plenty of enjoyable accelerative thrust.
If you use the throttle hard, the auto gearbox does a good job of holding gears longer to exploit that torque, or you can use the chunky steering wheel-mounted paddles for even more control.
The limited-slip differential on the front axle and the four-wheel drive system (which runs in front-wheel-drive mode most of the time but can send up to half the power through the rear axle) means that the M135 offers exceptional traction as well, even on damp roads.
