Interesting comments and thread. Let's not take this down the M Badge watering down rabbit hole... we all know where it ends and this isn't the thread for it.
To Scott's lengthy explanation of the dogmas, it is evident (and quite common sense) that market demands drive the changes that have caused these dogmas to disappear and be thrown out the window.
It makes sense. If BMW doesn't do this, then they go the way of Kodak, and we don't want that.
I see a couple of things
- No ///M version of i8, ok. However, WHEN (not if) the market demands more performance out of the future sports car, BMWi will deliver, just as it has/is with the 6 dogmas in Scott's answer. It may take more advanced battery tech (more power without adding weight) combined with a way to get higher output of the 3 cylinder, which is already impressive.
- Seeing what BMW can do with the i8, the recent concepts like the M1 Hommage, Gina, etc., I have no doubt that the M division can build the car everyone is asking for, which would compete with the SLS and the likes. This isn't that car. And, if they are building THAT car, they sure as hell are being tight-lipped about it!
I personally think that for the first iteration of a from-the-ground-up hybrid sports car, the i8 has very respectable numbers and it also has room to grow. Inevitably, BMWi will find a way to make it more powerful/faster/sportier without sacrificing the key qualities of BMWi. Just not this first iteration, and that's ok.
And yes I know there is the Porsche 918 but again that's an exotic supercar with a huge (practically LeMans derived) engine, and to me it's a hybrid just to say it's a hybrid. The BMWi brand is about the hybrid tech/philisophy at the core, and it makes sense that they won't mess with that by sticking a V8 in a BMWi vehicle.
I think part of the inherent success of the i8 is in all the negative comments. It looks like it should be a supercar, and people are disappointed that it isn't.
What if we think of the i8 as the M3 of the future?
(Yes it's not a track car, but again with new battery tech that is bound to be developed this will likely change)
That way we're not expecting the end-all be-all of sports cars. We are expecting an everyday car with serious performance. Which the i8 has. Remember, there is a large gap between a Ford Focus and an SLS AMG Black Series.
You can't have it both ways.
We all complain that the usual hybrid looks like an econoshitbox and drives like your grandmother sleepy on vicodin, and now we have a real world hybrid that looks out of this world and performs like an M3 (quoted from BMW not my assertion) and we are all upset that it's not a Porsche 918 killer for 1/10th of the price.
If we change our expectations about this car, I think a lot more people would be able to understand its purpose.
OK off my soap box, we can go back to lamenting the proliferation of M badges on everything that has wheels and the letters B, M, or W anywhere in its name....
