BMW i8 thread
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 8,349
Likes: 0
From: QC/FRANCE
I saw one last night on the other side of the highway, stuck in traffic. I guess, it must be the same one that my friend saw weeks ago at this high end car storage garage.
I saw another last night in all black, just up the road from my place. I guess I may be seeing more this summer.
I saw another last night in all black, just up the road from my place. I guess I may be seeing more this summer.
Last edited by JessePS; May 21, 2015 at 05:26 AM.
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 42,476
Likes: 321
From: California
Hardcore BMW i8 under consideration
BMW is working on an even hotter version of its i8 hybrid sports car, Auto Express has learned. Insiders have confirmed that the higher-performance i8 could be launched as soon as next year, in time to celebrate the firm’s centenary.
According to our source, engineers at BMW’s ‘i’ division are keen to showcase the capabilities of the i8’s lightweight carbon fibre structure and its plug-in hybrid drivetrain, and claim that the model could take as much as an extra 300bhp, although
a more modest increase is expected.
At present, the i8 is powered by a combination of a turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine and an electric motor, with a maximum combined power output of 357bhp and 570Nm of torque. Its official performance figures are 0-62mph in 4.4 seconds and a top speed of 155mph. Extra performance is expected to come from an upgraded petrol engine, not the electric propulsion system.
The petrol engine currently makes 228bhp – already quite a stretch for a three-cylinder unit – so BMW is believed to be testing a new configuration using a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine producing well over 300bhp, taking power to around 450bhp.
It is understood that a 0-62mph time of under four seconds is the target. A larger engine will clearly add weight, but BMW will counteract that with unpainted carbon fibre body panels and possibly even a stripped-out two-seat-only interior to try to maintain the i8’s 1,485kg kerbweight.
BMW has been monitoring the success of Ferrari and Aston Martin in creating high-priced, low volume special edition vehicles for well heeled enthusiasts and is keen to tap into the market. Hence it is highly likely the new version of the i8 will be given a distinct appearance from the normal car.
Whatever form the hot i8 takes, it won’t come under the remit of the M brand, as the company has stated that ‘i’ and ‘M’ will never mix.
According to our source, engineers at BMW’s ‘i’ division are keen to showcase the capabilities of the i8’s lightweight carbon fibre structure and its plug-in hybrid drivetrain, and claim that the model could take as much as an extra 300bhp, although
a more modest increase is expected.
At present, the i8 is powered by a combination of a turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine and an electric motor, with a maximum combined power output of 357bhp and 570Nm of torque. Its official performance figures are 0-62mph in 4.4 seconds and a top speed of 155mph. Extra performance is expected to come from an upgraded petrol engine, not the electric propulsion system.
The petrol engine currently makes 228bhp – already quite a stretch for a three-cylinder unit – so BMW is believed to be testing a new configuration using a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine producing well over 300bhp, taking power to around 450bhp.
It is understood that a 0-62mph time of under four seconds is the target. A larger engine will clearly add weight, but BMW will counteract that with unpainted carbon fibre body panels and possibly even a stripped-out two-seat-only interior to try to maintain the i8’s 1,485kg kerbweight.
BMW has been monitoring the success of Ferrari and Aston Martin in creating high-priced, low volume special edition vehicles for well heeled enthusiasts and is keen to tap into the market. Hence it is highly likely the new version of the i8 will be given a distinct appearance from the normal car.
Whatever form the hot i8 takes, it won’t come under the remit of the M brand, as the company has stated that ‘i’ and ‘M’ will never mix.
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,285
Likes: 43
From: NV
Drove an i8 for about 20 miles last week, all city driving - no highway (and no track, obviously). Even drove it around a mall and got in and out of it a couple times, so I got a pretty good understanding of how it operates as a daily driver. And I did take it briefly to some backroads with good twisties, so I was able to have a bit of fun.
The car definitely has a great jump to it. The high torque resulting from the turbo engine and the electric motors means the car really gets moving quickly. In a straight line, the car feels much faster than its power-to-weight or 0-60 time suggest. I also thought the car sounded pretty good - maybe it's due to the small displacement in the engine, although how much of the sound was due to the very embarrassing ASD, I don't know.
I was also surprised by how well the car is set up. I really liked the suspension and the chassis just feels very balanced. I did a couple u-turns and some cornering at relatively high speed and while the car has a lot of understeer, it also never felt unsettled - which is unusual considering the mid-engined setup and surprising given the tiny, tiny tires. I wasn't as sold on the steering - it's very light by BMW standards (which I actually prefer), but unfortunately it winds up being very Lexus-like (that's not a compliment) and does not offer much feedback - and even in sport mode has a dead spot at the center.
I liked the cabin - LCD HUD, comfy seats, generally a pleasant-feeling place to bee - and I like that they kept pretty true to the prototype design. Not a huge fan of the blue LED lighting everywhere, but it does give the cabin a futuristic look. I'm still not a fan of iDrive but that's just personal preference.
Unfortunately, there is one thing that absolutely kills the i8 as a daily driver - holy #$(*&^! side sills. The side sills are several inches above even the upper edge of the seats. They make the i8 difficult to get into and absurdly annoying to get out of. Even after a few tries I still hadn't figured out a good way to exit the car. Plus, there's no way you are having a girl in a skirt get in and out of this thing.
The car definitely has a great jump to it. The high torque resulting from the turbo engine and the electric motors means the car really gets moving quickly. In a straight line, the car feels much faster than its power-to-weight or 0-60 time suggest. I also thought the car sounded pretty good - maybe it's due to the small displacement in the engine, although how much of the sound was due to the very embarrassing ASD, I don't know.
I was also surprised by how well the car is set up. I really liked the suspension and the chassis just feels very balanced. I did a couple u-turns and some cornering at relatively high speed and while the car has a lot of understeer, it also never felt unsettled - which is unusual considering the mid-engined setup and surprising given the tiny, tiny tires. I wasn't as sold on the steering - it's very light by BMW standards (which I actually prefer), but unfortunately it winds up being very Lexus-like (that's not a compliment) and does not offer much feedback - and even in sport mode has a dead spot at the center.
I liked the cabin - LCD HUD, comfy seats, generally a pleasant-feeling place to bee - and I like that they kept pretty true to the prototype design. Not a huge fan of the blue LED lighting everywhere, but it does give the cabin a futuristic look. I'm still not a fan of iDrive but that's just personal preference.
Unfortunately, there is one thing that absolutely kills the i8 as a daily driver - holy #$(*&^! side sills. The side sills are several inches above even the upper edge of the seats. They make the i8 difficult to get into and absurdly annoying to get out of. Even after a few tries I still hadn't figured out a good way to exit the car. Plus, there's no way you are having a girl in a skirt get in and out of this thing.
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,397
Likes: 51
From: CN
Those sills are part of the carbon fiber crash structure. Maybe BMW should teach i8 owners to plop their behinds on the seat first before rotating their legs into the cabin 
If I had the money I would take a Tesla Model S as a daily driver, but the i8 looks gorgeous. It's a bit ridiculous that expensive toys like the i8 and 918 Spyder can be charged at home and run silently in the city, but hey, that the future and I welcome it.
If I had the money I would take a Tesla Model S as a daily driver, but the i8 looks gorgeous. It's a bit ridiculous that expensive toys like the i8 and 918 Spyder can be charged at home and run silently in the city, but hey, that the future and I welcome it.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 22,608
Likes: 105
From: Waiting for next track day
This car is the beginning of a cool chapter at bmw . I am amazed by how well received the car has been in reviews. Pretty solid for a first attempt. Just wonder if they will be reliable in the long run .
BMW is worst at electronic, I am wondering how soon these full on electronic i3 and i8 would stop running.......40k~50k miles?
Last edited by BNR34; Jun 12, 2015 at 03:29 PM.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 20,238
Likes: 274
i thought you guys were talking about i8 with 2.0l engine:
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/06/11/b...potent-report/
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/06/11/b...potent-report/
I saw an i8 being put on the flatbed few weeks ago. I did not stop to ask the owner what happened though.....
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,285
Likes: 43
From: NV
Crash structure or not, this is a car that is designed as a daily driver, and the side sills absolutely ruin that. It's pretty silly to have this type of car be so much harder to get in and out of than my LFA.
I've posted this Review before.. look at 7:03 (How he gets out of the car in a tight spot) http://www.carscoops.com/2014/11/tes...is-nearly.html
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 42,476
Likes: 321
From: California
German tuner Gabura creates the V8i
If you want to create a vehicle that has fuel efficiency as its primary concern, you’ll need to start with an aerodynamic design made of lightweight materials.
If, on the other hand, you’d like to create a vehicle that has speed and performance as its sole objectives, you’re going to want to start with an aerodynamic design made of lightweight materials.
We’re frankly surprised no one figured this out before now.
The team at Gabura Racing Technologies, a motorsports engineering company with expertise in race transmissions and custom builds, has taken BMW’s plug-in hybrid i8 sportscar and turned it into a supercar. The Munich-based company (handy, yes?) has removed all vestiges of futuristic hybrid technology from the i8, and rather than plug in a power cord has plugged in a supertuned BMW S63 twin-turbo V8 — mounted in the front, no less. That engine, the M-version of the occasionally maligned and once-recalled N63 4.4-litre, already boasts 560 horses, and the boosted Gabura version (apparently pre-tweaked by BMW tuner Alpina) is said to add at least 200 more.
Gabura put this work-in-progress on display at the 2015 Professional MotorSport World Expo in Cologne, where the company made great pains to point out that this isn’t just a tune-up. They have, they say, completely emptied that aluminum and carbon i8 shell, and placed an entirely new car inside it.
The V8i is an exercise in marketing, perhaps, but it will yield a street-legal racecar of exceptional speed. We don’t know yet what kind of performance to expect (the stock i8 can hit 60mph in just 4.4 seconds), but we know that the i8’s curb weight is half a ton less than the M6 that the S63 engine normally powers. Oh, and Gabura specializes in racing transmissions, so expect a six-speed sequential manual mounted ahead of the rear axle. Back-of-the-envelope calculations say the V8i should be really, really fast.
If, on the other hand, you’d like to create a vehicle that has speed and performance as its sole objectives, you’re going to want to start with an aerodynamic design made of lightweight materials.
We’re frankly surprised no one figured this out before now.
The team at Gabura Racing Technologies, a motorsports engineering company with expertise in race transmissions and custom builds, has taken BMW’s plug-in hybrid i8 sportscar and turned it into a supercar. The Munich-based company (handy, yes?) has removed all vestiges of futuristic hybrid technology from the i8, and rather than plug in a power cord has plugged in a supertuned BMW S63 twin-turbo V8 — mounted in the front, no less. That engine, the M-version of the occasionally maligned and once-recalled N63 4.4-litre, already boasts 560 horses, and the boosted Gabura version (apparently pre-tweaked by BMW tuner Alpina) is said to add at least 200 more.
Gabura put this work-in-progress on display at the 2015 Professional MotorSport World Expo in Cologne, where the company made great pains to point out that this isn’t just a tune-up. They have, they say, completely emptied that aluminum and carbon i8 shell, and placed an entirely new car inside it.
The V8i is an exercise in marketing, perhaps, but it will yield a street-legal racecar of exceptional speed. We don’t know yet what kind of performance to expect (the stock i8 can hit 60mph in just 4.4 seconds), but we know that the i8’s curb weight is half a ton less than the M6 that the S63 engine normally powers. Oh, and Gabura specializes in racing transmissions, so expect a six-speed sequential manual mounted ahead of the rear axle. Back-of-the-envelope calculations say the V8i should be really, really fast.
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,397
Likes: 51
From: CN
Umm... They could've taken a space frame, bolted that engine in the middle and put an i8 silhouette body on it instead. What a waste to strip the AWD electric drive train on the car, only to stuff a huge and heavy engine up front and turn it into an unbalanced RWD car. Hopefully someone figures out how to stuff even larger electric motors up front for ludicrous acceleration figures.
Lead Lap
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 782
Likes: 0
From: TX
It's Official: BMW i8 Roadster Will Hit The Streets In 2018
Previewed by a concept believed to be production ready when it was first shown in Beijing four years ago, the BMW i8 Roadster has been delayed a number of times, but it's finally on its way to enter the brand's portfolio.
According to the brand's CEO Harald Krueger, cited byAutomotiveNewsEurope, who spoke on the matter at a press conference in Santa Monica, California, last Tuesday, the i8 Roadster will be added to the automaker's lineup in 2018.
Krueger declined to talk about the car's spec sheet, but previous info reveals that it will benefit from a longer-range battery and a more powerful electric motor over its current fixed-roof sibling. Speaking of which, the latter will also go through a few revisions and when it will finally be ready for the market, it will gain the same updates as the i8 Roadster.
During the same event, the BMW official confirmed that the i3, with its upgraded batterythat can provide a total driving range of 300 km (186 miles), up from the previous 190 km (118 miles), has been very well received by customers and described the orders for the 'green' hatch as "very positive".
According to the brand's CEO Harald Krueger, cited byAutomotiveNewsEurope, who spoke on the matter at a press conference in Santa Monica, California, last Tuesday, the i8 Roadster will be added to the automaker's lineup in 2018.
Krueger declined to talk about the car's spec sheet, but previous info reveals that it will benefit from a longer-range battery and a more powerful electric motor over its current fixed-roof sibling. Speaking of which, the latter will also go through a few revisions and when it will finally be ready for the market, it will gain the same updates as the i8 Roadster.
During the same event, the BMW official confirmed that the i3, with its upgraded batterythat can provide a total driving range of 300 km (186 miles), up from the previous 190 km (118 miles), has been very well received by customers and described the orders for the 'green' hatch as "very positive".
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
