[F5506m]

Originally Posted by thesubmitter

I have had the car in 3 sets of tires

245 all around
245/285 (they touch a bit)
And stock


I beg you all please don’t leave the i8 on stock tires, its a totally different experience on the wider tires

I am curious what do you mean by a different experience. I am assuming it is all connected to better handling feel.

[thesubmitter]

Originally Posted by F5506m

I am curious what do you mean by a different experience. I am assuming it is all connected to better handling feel.

Yes

The i8 feels very wimpy on the stock tires, you can easily exceed the traction of the tires.

On the wider tires it maintains traction about as far as the car can push.

[Tazzie]

Does Amy make of tyre fit for those sizes? I know some tyres can be a little bit wider than others.

[Tazzie]

Sorry any tyre *

[billy.gif]

Originally Posted by KevCap

I’m gonna be running 245’s fronts and 275’s rear summer tires and 215’s on all 4 corners winter tires

Narrow tires normally offer good traction on snow/Ice

Hello. I drove my i8 during last winter (ice & snow here in Scandinavia) and based on my personal experience good setup for winter tires is 4 x 245 / 40 R19.

Those are easily available and more common (cheaper) than for example 215 / 55 R19.

[billy.gif]

Originally Posted by thesubmitter

Yes

The i8 feels very wimpy on the stock tires, you can easily exceed the traction of the tires.

On the wider tires it maintains traction about as far as the car can push.

I personally like the car to lose its traction as its much, much more fun. Kind of Mazda Miata / MX-5 or Toyota GT86 type of driving.

Its so easy to drive the i8 sideways with stock tire setup, much harder with oversize tires because of limitation of the ICE power, only 231bhp and 275-295 width rear tires = Remember guys only the ICE power is transferred to rear wheels, not the whole 365 (ish) bhp. But each to their own.

Generally drivers who say i8 pushes like *ell really do not know how to drive car sideways on asphalt. It only understeers when driver has no clue about basic principles of weight transfer, letting of the gas, trail braking, upsetting the rear end going into corner etc.

[Coastali8]

Driving the car sideways through a corner is not the fastest way.
Maintaining traction and apexing is always the best technique on pavement. The i8 understeers on the stock tires. Saying someone doesn’t know how to drive if they don’t drift through a corner is ignorant.

FYI Drifting on public roads is illegal.


A few years ago…. but the physics still apply.

[billy.gif]

Straight quote from Youtube comments about BMW i8 experience as a whole:

I rented an i8 over the weekend and I want to give my truly honest perspective. This car is drastically misunderstood in the wide scheme of what it is and what it delivers. It receives hate because of its powertrain, but the powertrain is what allows a lot of people to own something that's outside the class of McLaren or a Lamborghini. Sure, those are amazing cars with a very driver-centric feel and deliver the true supercar experience. The powertrain allows you to own the car with much lower maintenance costs than the exotics that it competed with at MSRP. It was much easier on the wallet that way. Was it great with acceleration? Not really. It did pull you back so you did feel something fun though through the eBoost torque. Absolutely incredible in the canyons. If you don't care only about straight line speed, then this is an amazing drivers car in the canyons and mountain roads. Brings a smile to your face. Very planted, very predictable.

In the way of it being a daily, it can be done if you're not concerned about too much space. The fuel economy is crazy and you can practically live off just the eDrive mode alone if you're going to and from work within your city. But I wouldn't necessarily say that this car does not deserve the "supercar" title.

This car doesn't really compare with the exotics in it's original MSRP range. This is more like a comfortable GT style car that allows you to live under the supercar status of someone who owns one of those exotics for less than half the price. The way that this car makes you feel while you're behind the wheel, approaching it, and leaving it is a whole different experience than what you're used to in a normal car. During the time of renting it, I had people pulling out their phones rolling down their windows yelling at me how crazy cool the car was, and coming up to me and asking me if they can have pictures in it. I even had someone come up to me in the gym expressing how cool the car was while it was parked out front, and how it was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen in his 65 years on this earth. This car is a unique bridge between being able to live under the supercar status without having to pay the exorbitantly high supercar price tag.

It absolutely was not worth the original MSRP from when it was released. I see why no one would have ever thought twice about buying that car when it was new. Is it worth it for around 50-70k as it is? Absolutely. Would I buy this as my daily driver? No. I wouldn't. My Audi S5 is a lot faster and a lot better as a daily than the i8 was. But the i8 delivered something special. It made you feel a way no other car could and nearly holds its own class and in it's depreciated market state. It's incredibly worth it. I would definitely own it as a second car alongside my S5 one day.

Sorry for the long rant, I just wanted to be completely transparent! Hope this helps if there's someone here unsure about how to feel about the car or if you're in the market for one.