AUTOCAR:
Full review:
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/...t-drive-review
There is a commanding view from the high-mounted driver’s seat, although you look in vain for any bodywork beyond the base of the windscreen, such is the acute angle of the stubby bonnet. The view out back, meanwhile, is hampered somewhat by the substantial pillars and a shallow rear window within the tailgate. Accommodation up front is excellent, with the i3 imparting an airy and upbeat ambiance.
The decision to eschew a conventional steel monocoque in favour of a more advanced combination of aluminium, carbonfibre and steel construction for the i3 required a big investment in production infrastructure, but it has allowed BMW to bring its first dedicated electric car to market with a kerb weight that undercuts the competition at just 1195kg. By comparison, the similarly sized Nissan Leaf hits the scales at 1525kg, while the smaller Renault Zoe weighs 1390kg. As well as being relatively light, the advanced construction used by the i3 also helps endow it with what BMW describes as class leading rigidity. This inherent structural strength has allowed designers to do away with traditional B-pillars and permit the use of coach style rear doors.
With 168bhp and 184lb ft of torque the moment you brush the throttle, the new BMW is more than merely brisk. In fact, its performance is good enough to match some big name hot hatches with 0-37mph in 3.7sec, 0-62mph in 7.2sec and a 50-75mph split of 4.9sec. Traction is excellent, even on a heavily loaded throttle away from the lights, without any hint of wheelspin or interruption from the various electronic driving aids. The nominal 93mph top speed is limited to preserve the battery charge.
The sporting impression is reinforced by relatively light and direct steering. In combination with a low centre of gravity, this endows the i3 with swift and sharp directional change response for excellent maneuverability in urban driving conditions. The electro-mechanical steering system is shared, in part, with the next generation Mini hatchback and becomes more direct as lock is wound on, although there’s sufficient response from the centre position to provide class leading levels of low speed agility. Indeed, in the cut and thrust of city traffic, the new BMW is extraordinarily agile and fun to drive.
To enhance its sportiness, BMW has provided the i3’s MacPherson strut (front) and multi-link (rear) suspension with relatively firm spring rates. The ride is quite firm and tends to become frigid on anything but smooth road surfaces. The damping, on the other hand, is relatively soft, leading to rather exaggerated levels of lean when you pitch the new BMW into a bend. The tall but narrow tyres provide relatively strong adhesion, but with so much performance on hand it doesn’t take much to get the traction and stability control systems working mid-corner.
TOP GEAR:
Full review:
http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/b...rive-2013-10-9
None of that would be worth dwelling on if it didn't perform properly. But it's got your back there too. It's eager and silent, and taut and biddable. Electric propulsion is conceptually simple, but in its details it's extremely hard to get right. And in mass-market terms it's in its infancy. The depth of BMW's engineering achievement mustn't be under-estimated.
In most normal suburban driving the i3 is somewhere between quick and actually fast. Normally it eases its way from rest with impeccable smoothness, but floor the thing and it departs as if high-voltage electrodes have been applied to its derrière. Which of course they have. OK, listen hard and there's a slight whining noise, but overall, even compared with other electric cars, it's miraculously silent at town speed.
That suave push from the motor just keeps flowing. The transmission is a one-speed reduction gear, so it's smoother than a manual, smoother than an auto, smoother than a twin-clutch. Totally smooth, end of.
Smoothly, at somewhere above 70-mph, the motor's acceleration begins to taper away compared with your expectations. This is a 170bhp car sub 60mph, but at bigger speed it isn't. That's precisely because it has just the one gear, and it's now revving beyond its power peak. Anyway, to prevent energy-sucking high speed running, it's limited to 93mph. But it's not a deal-breaker: you can move into the outside lane without it betraying you.
And it corners like a BMW. Sort of. OK, a short, wide BMW with narrow tyres. Pile into a bend and it'll understeer. Jam the accelerator hard in a tight bend and the front end goes light and it'll understeer. But be smooth, or give a slight lift to dig the front tyres in, and it's neutral, the driven rear wheels finding plenty of traction. The chassis gives you good feel for what's up, the steering less so. But the steering is direct and the wheelbase short, so the i3 is always agile.
Because you sit high, there's some lateral rocking on undulating roads, but nothing to upset the applecart. Otherwise the ride is decently controlled, if fairly taut. Because the body feels so strong and rigid, you've got confidence.
AUTOEXPRESS:
Full review:
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/bmw/i3/...i3-2014-review
The steering is surprisingly weighty and full of feel, allowing you to place the car exactly where you want it, while the low centre of gravity means that it remains composed during quick direction changes. To help it cope with city traffic, there’s a tight 9.86-metre turning circle (a black cab’s is 7.62 metres).
The steering is surprisingly weighty and full of feel, allowing you to place the car exactly where you want it, while the low centre of gravity means that it remains composed during quick direction changes. To help it cope with city traffic, there’s a tight 9.86-metre turning circle (a black cab’s is 7.62 metres).
BMW’s pursuit of lightweight with the i3 isn’t limited to the carbon fibre passenger cell and aluminium crash structures – there are also aluminium suspension components, hollow driveshafts and standard 19-inch forged aluminium wheels. Even the windscreen wiper has an unconventional honeycomb structure to reduce mass.
As a result, the i3 weighs less than 1,195kg and with up to 168bhp and 250Nm of torque available the moment you select ‘D’ on the gearshift, it accelerates with impressive urgency. A 0-62mph time of 7.2 seconds means it's quicker than a 120d off the line, but more relevant to a city car is the 3.7-second 0-37mph time.
Not that the i3 is out of its comfort zone when you leave town. Top speed is limited according to which of the three modes you choose – so it's 93mph in Comfort, 75mph in ECO PRO and 56mph in ECO PRO+. But should you need full power, you can override the limiter by pushing the throttle to the floor, and get maximum thrust, even while driving in ECO PRO+ mode.
BMW quotes a Comfort mode range of between 80 and 100 miles, and having driven the car for two days in a variety of conditions we suspect this is easily achievable. ECO PRO and ECO PRO+ modes are said to add 15 per cent range each (by limiting the output of the motor and dialling down the power consumption of the ancillaries), up to a theoretical maximum of 125 miles.