Video: 1-Series M Coupe onboard

It will wear an M badge. It will be fitted with six petrol-burning cylinders. It will almost certainly be Good. This, dear readers, is the BMW 1-Series M Coupe.

Filmed entirely from inside the cabin while on a hot lap at the Ascari race track in Spain, this new footage clearly shows the rather sideways and rather loud nature of the forthcoming baby Beemer.

Judging from the classic straight-six bark and large, exultant grin on Unidentified Man, the not-called-an-M1 promises some old-school fireworks. The 0-62mph time is rumoured to be around 4.6 seconds with a limited top speed of 155mph. We rather hoped it would be a lightweight, screaming four-pot a-la E30.

The 0-62mph time means it will tread rather angrily over the M3's V8-laden foot. Which brings up two rather important questions.

Can the 1-Series M Coupe ever rekindle the original M3's flame, and what on earth will the next M3 have to pack to be quicker than this?

Vijay Pattni