2008 BMW 128i Coupe

You really have to hand it to BMW. When it set out to build the 1 Series, it had a clean slate. In an age where each manufacturer has a Camry-fighter or its version of the CR-V, BMW made a rare stand and decided not to enter a market, but create one.

And it could have done it on the cheap -- after all, the opportunity to break new ground is not only rare, it's risky and expensive.

But it didn't pinch pennies -- this much is clear from the moment you sit inside the all-new entry-level BMW 1 Series, the 128i Coupe. Eight-way power-adjustable seats offer a customized fit with familiar BMW flair, down to my favorite seat feature, the adjustable thigh support. At your fingertips are a tilt and telescoping steering wheel and a center console that's canted toward you, the driver.

Could it have justified dropping the thigh support and offering only a six- or four-way manually adjustable seat and tilt-only wheel on the basis that this is indeed the entry-level BMW and should therefore lack a few creature comforts? Absolutely -- I would have bought that story.

I don't know whether that conversation even occurred between bean-counter and product manager, but I do know that BMW claims to have designed the 1 Series to be a driver's car, and the customizable seating position is only small evidence of this commitment.

The big deal is that the 128i is a rear-drive small car in age of front drivers. Longitudinally positioned under the hood is BMW's popular 3.0-liter inline-six making 230 horsepower and 200 pound-feet of torque.

At roughly 3300 pounds, the 128i is reasonably light by modern standards and has more than enough oomph to walk a bit sideways as I lay down a fat stripe of burnt rubber through first gear. Shift, and the momentary break lets the tires bite down and away we go.

Throws of the six-speed manual transmission are longish, but precise. Videographer Jim Gleason, who's along for the drive, thinks the gearbox is better than the M3's because it's smoother and less notchy. Perhaps, but then again, the 128i only has to deal with 230 rip-snortin' ponies.

Which is more than enough to send us hurtling over the bumpy asphalt along Monterey's Carmel Valley Road. In some stretches, the pavement is terrible, but there is also a combination of long suspension travel and the 1 Series' short wheelbase that makes the 128i a bit nervous and jouncy. Of course, we're also going fast -- confident in the 128's accurate steering and excellent brakes. Over some of the bigger potholes and truck-track depressions, the suspension's aggressive rebound sends the rear wheels hopping and the Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) light blinking. Lunatic fun at first, but tiresome when the throttle gets cut as well.