[ezmaass]

I've tried to like it... but just don't.

Yes, it's a major achievement because it was complex... but it's also complex to build a house upside down. Just because something is difficult to accomplish doesn't mean the result is rewarding, meaningful, or valued.

I'd sooner drive an all-electric sports car than a hybrid one. No matter how fantastically smart they get with trying to make the systems work in concert, some of Chris' comments are really telling regarding limitations - and most of them seem to be surrounding trying to make the systems predict what the driver wants and respond in-turn. In a sedan that may be fine. But in a sports car, where we tend to measure responsiveness of systems in fractions of seconds, it's unacceptable to have any amount of hesitation for a secondary system to engage, overcompensate, or fail to spool down in-time... much to what was explained here. It's the result of predicting what the driver will want and literally trying to spool-up/down the gasoline engine in the proper quantity. It's just never going to feel right.

I want a car with a single powerplant that just WORKS. Make it a combustion engine. Make it an electric motor. But don't make it BOTH and expect that they're going to seamlessly play well together in a sports car. Yes, yes... I know other high-end manufacturers are doing it. And I honestly think, like BMW pumping in artificial engine noise, it's an attempt to transition combustion engine folks to electric motors... a grand experiment, perhaps. But I'd sooner go all electric, honestly. You'd lose some wonderful noises... but you'd retain the composure and comprehensive design of a single powerplant.

And honestly, the i8 just fails to live up to the design of the Audi R8 for me. The R8 is a stunning supercar... and the i8 seems to be a quirky pseudo futuristic experiment that will likely age very, very poorly. After 6 years or so of production, the R8 still looks as beautiful, current, and timeless as it did when it was debuted. I don't think we'll be saying the same about the i8 in 6 years.

My 0.02 cents.