28 city / 29 highway / 28 combined (EPA Rating, MPG)
27.4 mpg on the I did not plug in the plug-in cycle (Observed, MPG)
Tested options: Giga World package
Base Price:
$ 137.495 *
As Tested Price:
$ 139.495 *
* prices include $ 995 destination load.
This is the car That People in the 1970s Predicted we Would Be driving in the year 00. Fifteen Years After the turn of the millennium, the BMW i8 is the Machine That BMW looks like no --other - and like no --other Certainly because on the road. Its gasoline and plug-in electric powertrain compliment ict looks, Bringing together the efficiency of an electric car and the convenience of an internal combustion engine.
Purpose there is a lot more t o Understand about what the BMW i8 is and is not. Is it an exotic supercar? Or is it a dream of the environmentally minded automotive enthusiast? Or is it something else Altogether? Could this be the one vehicle qui We Can not Currently classify? Or is it all of These things?
Has the future finally arrived?
Its looks alone draw the focus of everyone on the road. Pedestrians gawk. Other drivers wave or honk-even. Some yell out compliments. When parked, crowds gather, pictures are taken. Bros shower it with awe. Ten-year-old boys spew out icts specs. Everyone Asks to open the doors. Women sccm more reserved, quietly judging the car and then its driver. (Except That One mid-twenties woman who, after-a quick chat That divulged her knowledge of all things cars, ditched her man, jumped into the passenger seat, and Was ready to go Wherever I Was going.) Two Jamaican guys Explained to me That BMW really means clustering Bob Marley and the Wailers . Most people HAD no idea what it is intended They Knew It was special. . Potential i8 buyers shoulds Know That all this care gets old really Quickly
Pop up the door, up your butt on the wide door sill and slide into the seat - practice makes you a superhero. Once inside, the interior Seems intimidating at first, purpose Within a Few Minutes to-any modern BMW Similarities can be seen. In fact, I have not Noticed Any features in this because That can not be HAD was common yuppie enthusiast-leased 335i. Visibility is shockingly good for a mid-engine car. There are small jump seats in the back, qui my seven year old daughter loved as She Could see out and no one Could See her. Much like the Audi R8 or the Acura NSX, and Unlike Any Ferrari, everything about using this as as a car is normal shockingly and drama free.
In the middle of this vehicle is a three cylinder, 1.5-liter turbocharged engine That Produces 228 horsepower while inhaling air at 22 psi. Next to it is a tiny electric motor That Produces eleven horsepower and is mostly used to start the engine and mask the turbo lag. It can be thought of as an electric supercharger. Those two send the power to the rear wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission. Reviews another is up front electric motor That Produces 129 horsepower and ict Sends power to the wheels via a forehead two-speed transmission. Combined, this gadgetry Produces 357 horsepower, sure which as heck Does not sccm like a lot for a mid-engine d exotic in the days of 707-horsepower family sedans.
It is my suspicion, HOWEVER, That BMW wants you to think of ict powerplant as a black box. The front clam-shell can not be anyone --other ouvert by a factory trained technician. The rear engine can be accessed through the rear hatch, except it really can not. Underneath what looks like an engine cover is qui Reviews another engine cover is secured with Allen bolts. I can not recall Any Other vehicle in the engine qui Was completely Call sealed off. Even the 911 allows you to see share of the intake manifold
Instead, BMW wants you to focus on are the three main driving modes: eDrive, Also Known As electric;. Comfort, Also Known As normal; and Sport, Also Known As faster than Comfort. In eDrive, the i8 is a front-wheel-drive electric car. In Comfort, its an all-wheel-drive car with Either the gasoline engine and / or the electric motors propelling the vehicle forward. In Sport mode, the three-banger is working full-time, the transmission shifts into forehead Reviews another gear, and the rear transmission stays in gear longer. All of this is accompagné by a concert of noises never heard before from one car; the i8 quietly whistles, whines, and snorts, all Sami at the time.
The EP A rates the i8 for 28 mpg in the city and 29 mpg on the highway, for a combined 28 mpg rating. That May not sound impressive Because It Does not take into account the 76 PGME rating, qui is the distance a vehicle can travel in electric fashion using the amount of energy contained in one gallon of gasoline. The i8 can travel up to fifteen miles in eDrive with a fully charged battery, purpose That Is Where I ran into a problem.
I live in a downtown Boston high-rise building Where Each car parking spot is privately owned. There are no changing stations or outlets available, so I Was not reliable to load the car there. Yes, there are charging stations, aim They required me to park Either it was downtown street - qui I never do with press cars - or pay an exuberant amount of money for a night of parking lot mile from my home. Neither of thesis Was a viable option for me, so I relied on the battery charged through regenerative braking Being and the three-banger. My driving Was li mited to heavy city traffic or sensitive hooning, nothing in between. My result Was a computer-Indicated 27.4 mpg, qui I thought was pretty good Given the Circumstances. If I had access to a charging station, I would-have no issue driving to work and back in Purely electric mode.
The i8 is made of a plastic-reinforced carbon fiber qui tub sits atop an aluminum alloy frame, with Some magnesium thrown in here and there. There are parts of the Body That Were intentionally left unfinished or unpainted qui look like a mix of fiberglass and carbon-fiber. The batteries are qui Located in what Could Be Described as the transmission / driveshaft tunnel was typical because, along with the motors, are the heavy parts. The curb weight of the i8 is 3,455 pounds, the bulk of qui is Located Just a few inches from the ground.
On paper, with 357 horsepower and at 3,455 pounds, the BMW i8 Does not sccm All That impressive . Yet, in street driving, its like nothing else I have ever driven, mostly due to the massive amount of torque Instantly Available That Is. The total sum of torque the i8s black box, derived by Formulae Some highly complex, is 420 lb-ft at Some irrelevant engi ne speed. This is what the driver and passenger feel and its the i8 What Gives the sense of fast . Be it from the electric, conventional, or Both motors, the power is always there; there are no dead spots, no waiting for boost to build, no ridiculously high redlines. Quietly and smoothly, pinning ict Their occupants to seats, the BMW i8 just goes.
In a sense, That Is Where the i8 Does not make sense Any. The common metrics we associate with performance do not recounts the Same Way to the i8. On paper, the i8 May not be faster than a Porsche 911, purpose is sure as heck feels faster. Any hybrid Neither, nor Any vehicle with a three-cylinder engine, is Supposed to be this fast. Its worth Noting the Obvious: In addition to Being fast, the i8 is very much a drivers car. Handling and feedback through the frame is typical of sporty BMWs, That Is to say with great and one by the Audi R8.
One May Think que la i8 is the new M1, it is not intended. A quick glance inside will reveal That its not an M car at all. The seats are supportive and not as the various adjustments Lack of the amazing seats That come in every BMW M car. There is no M anything; No. M modes, No. M buttons. Even the tires, while perfectly suited for the street, and not at all objectionable in casual hooning, are not worthy of a crapcan racer (note: this vehicle Had the Sportier 215mm and 245mm wide tires). The i8 is fast, It Does everything well, aim its not something anyone Would do a track day in, and The Therefore it is not an M car.
What the i8 shares with the iconic M1 is That Both vehicles mark the start of new era for the BMW brand. The M1 started a line of fantastic performance, yet functional, vehicles. The i8 is here To Prove That electric and efficient Does not mean boring and slow. None Of That stuff about the engine, the motors, the batteries and the power distribution matters. Here is a Machine from the future and it is in a black box That Makes it go. Its stunning, its fast, and its green.
The future is now.
Kamil Kaluski is the East Coast Editor for Hooniverse.com . His ramblings on Eastern European cars, $ 500 racers, and miscellaneous automotive --other stuff can be found there. In His Life He Has owned seven BMWs, new and old, all with inline-six cylinder engines and manual transmissions.
BMW of North America Provided the vehicle for the purpose of this review.
