BMW i8 review
The BMW i8 hybrid supercar lands from the future to reassure petrolheads that excitement and eco can co-exist
Car makers so far aren’t in agreement on how to dress the future. Tesla, for example, based its electric technology around a conventionally good-looking car with the Model S. For the i8 supercar, BMW is basically saying, ‘dammit, this electric stuff is new. Let’s style it new, too’.
The i8’s swoops, cutaways and indents are taken straight from the 2009 concept car while the electric motor married to a highly tuned 1.5-litre turbocharged engine is equally bold.
We’ve seen million-pound hybrid hyper cars from McLaren, Ferrari and Porsche, but at just under £100,000 the i8 is flirting with affordable and no less exotic given it’s also built around a carbon fibre tub. It’s got breathtaking looks, right-on engine tech and heaps of government tax-breaks, but can it really deliver the on-road performance of the likes of rivals such as the Aston Martin Vantage V8 or Audi R8?
Future sound
Great sound is vital for a supercar, but how can an electric motor and a three-cylinder engine match the soul-pounding thunder of a V8 or V10? We don’t know how, but they can. The i8 sounds fabulous. We suspect synthesizer trickery but it matters little.
Sport mode turns the digital dials from a meditative blue to hellfire red, the petrol engine is ignited and suddenly it’s no more Mr Green Guy. Shifting through the automatic’s six speeds using the wheel mounted paddles brings about a fearsome bassy crack on each change, and the engine howls as if it’s got at least three more cylinders as speed multiplies. At times you hear the distinctive (and no less appealing) three-pot thrum, while the controlled scream from the electric motor is one of the best we’ve heard.
Extreme yoghurt weaving
Because the core of the car is made of plastic woven with carbon fibres, the whole thing is still relatively light at 1,490kg – even with those two engines.
It’s also very stiff – you feel it when you corner hard and realise you could take that same corner much, much faster.
With the petrol engine at the back driving the rear wheels and the electric motor at the opposite end powering the front wheels, the all-paw traction is excellent and the weight balance spot on. With the steering weighted up in Sport, the car feels fabulous. And it rides beautifully. Firm but with each clattering pothole wrapped in velvet and disposed without fuss.
Read more : 2016 10Best Cars
BMW i8 review
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