[Hitz101]

Hey everyone,

I found this forum while looking for i8 owners & wanted to join / get some advice.

So I love cars always have..I now have a 2009 v8 r8 with the GT kit & a 650i by prior design & vossen wheels that I just got / traded up my Audi a7 for.

So now I just made a deal to trade in the r8 + cash to buy a 2014 i8 white / black (no blue) with 790 miles & I am excited. It has the terra package.

A few questions...


1. Any other Terra package owners here? I usually HATE brown interior but from the images it seems like this terra brown is almost black really dark. Is it okay in person?

2. Anything you can think of that I should know as a i8 owner?

3. I know I am losing some power coming from a v8 r8 to an i8 but from the videos & such it seems like the i8 can be almost as quick as the v8 model...do you all drive in sport mode a lot? How is it?

If you see my current cars (below) you see I am heavy into mods. But with the i8 i'm not going to do to much. Lower it, new wheels & tires forged by vossen, tint, black out the side markers & thats it. Maybe wrap it crazy colors a year later to change it up lol. I see some of you have lowered yours as well with HR. Any rubbing issues? Clearance issues?

[StuM]

Congratulations on your upcoming change. I had both a v8 R8 coupe and V10 R8 Spyder, both 6 spd manuals. Loved them, but I too like to move on frequently. Much like your R8, every i8 drive is an event and you will draw a lot of attention. Be prepared. I find the i8 a bit more civilized than the R8 and a touch nicer re the interior. The on-road handling and cornering are better too, but the ride, while fine, is not fully "BMW like". It's a bit harder on poor road surfaces. I don't feel any torque steer in the i8 either, unlike a few occasions in the R8's. You will need to to develop your own entry/exit strategy, but once you find what works best for you, it's a snap. I run mostly in "Sport" for the instant umph. It will surprise you and the official 4.4 to 60 is way off. 4.0 and below are VERY easy to produce in sport. The i8 exhaust note will be a bit of a letdown vs the V8 R8 (even moreso than the V10), but there's not much you can do about it. Not much in the way of upgrades for the i8 yet, but tires/wheels are coming out all the time, wraps are plentiful and Turner will sell you a very expensive exhaust, but I don't find the sound worth the expense, based on the online videos. Would I get another R8? Sure and wish I had kept the V10 to go with the i8. (It wasn't a direct swap, whereas I had a Maserati GT MC convt and GTS Boxster in between the last R8 and the i8.) Now, I WILL be looking over the upcoming new R8 to see if that might be of interest and the new Merc GT S and NSX are also enticing :-)

[Hitz101]

Thanks for the reply. Nice to hear from another r8 previous owner as well. Yeah I'm pretty excited as its always been a dream to have a car with scissor doors but something that still looked amazing as well & the i8 just matches that.

At first when I seen it & heard of the engine & everything I was like never i'd never get that thing I don't care how cool it looks I like mean loud angry cars with exotic looks not just exotic looks. But when i watched more videos & talked to some owners I grew to like it a lot & specially for the used price. Im not about to get an aventador, maybe a mclaren 12c down the line but even those used are another 40k than an i8 so for now the i8 just felt like it might be a nice experience & something different.

Also yeah I have heard the exhaust but only on many videos. Does not seem to bad but yeah NOT anywhere NEAR as nice as a real proper r8 or anything higher supercar end range. Should be fine though. I can't wait to see what it feels like opening getting in & closing those doors haha!! Don't get me wrong thats not the only reason of course I like the car but it deff helped seal the deal

[MKSixer]

Congratulations on your decision. I think that you will be happy coming from the R8 V8. I actually had cigars and wine with a fellow car guy last night who owns an R8 V10 and a highly modded 911 Turbo so we had the opportunity to compare the R8 and the i8, side by side. The R8 is a beautiful car with amazing lines but the quote from my buddy which was echoed by his son was this, 'My R8 is a beautiful car but with it parked next to the i8 it looks like the past and the future have met.'

The sound of the exhaust is a bit of a let down, especially for we who drove (still drive...me) V10s. I will always keep my E63 M6 because with the Tubi X-Pipe ad Section 3, it makes sounds what i8's dream about while recharging. Purely intoxicating.

As far as the attention quotient goes...get ready. A fellow i8 owner who has come from a Gallardo says that the i8 garners FAR more attention than the Lambo ever did. I agree. Day or night, people go crazy when they see the car.

Please keep us posted on your progress!
Cheers-mk

[jcpca356]

i8 is faster than R8V8

[ChiTownM]

Everybody hits the nail on the head on this thread......and I too have kept my V8, albeit a M3 with custom exhaust, to quench the angry sound moments I have every now and then. Surprisingly I drive the i8 more than I thought, that's how good it is!l

[Hitz101]

Thanks for the reply & that is nice to know for sure! Yeah it seems like all the i8 is missing is a real better more angry exhaust note haha. My r8 sounds insane with this stasis exhaust on it but my 650 sounds nice as well it has a GThaus on it which makes it sound like a damn turbo charged truck haha.

Where I live people always go literally NUTS for the r8 since there are not many high end or rare cars around here so I can only imagine what they are going to think on this i8 haha.

I also seen a instagram post of a i8 next to r8 & was like well shit...Iv always loved the look of r8s but next to an i8 they don't look as good at all. Doors down & all just the car itself is like art.

For sure too! I'll make a new post when I get here here!

[Hitz101]

Really?! Well damn thats fine with me. I never got a v10 because I found the perfect color & looking one for me at a nice price & said forget it this is enough speed for me & another person told me too like if the v8 was fast enough for you you will be fine with the i8

[Hitz101]

Nice haha...Yeah I think I'm going to be driving it a lot & the 650 will just be posted for a while waiting to go to car shows haha. I won't have a car for a while though since the wide body is going to sema & they come take the r8 monday will have to use the girls car with her haha

[rap427]

Terra is great but watch the total price you get into. I have seen a 2014 with 10k on the clock asking $90K. You can get a '15 for invoice if you shop. There are over 500 cars for sale in the US, about 425 new on the ground.

[hytek]

Somehow, I've impressed more people with my e-drive than the loud and noisy roars.
They see this car that seems to be from the future, and it whisks away with no noise.
It just "doesn't compute" for them.

[Hitz101]

WOA really?! 90k for 10k miles? That is a super deal. I have only been able to find ones with like 700 - 1000 miles for about 125 - 135 1 owner. I'v looked all over on eBay & auto trader & they all seem to be around that price.

[Aye-eight]

Originally Posted by hytek

Somehow, I've impressed more people with my e-drive than the loud and noisy roars.
They see this car that seems to be from the future, and it whisks away with no noise.
It just "doesn't compute" for them.

Amen to that! The car world is changing. Hang on to some of the old school stuff if you can, but now's the time to enjoy the glimpses of the future.

[rap427]

Really study Cars.com for new and pre-owned and CPO. Dealers will rarely discount these cars in an ad but conversation and cash will change the story. This tells the tale. A legitimate dealer in CA this week said a 1 owner '14, less than 500 miles would bring $115-maybe $120k. Milage and options don't seem to matter much. I was told that for a dealer purchase 500 miles or 5000 did not matter much. As we all know asking price is rarely sale price. Someone on this blog bought a '15 for he said more than $10k under sticker yesterday. An enclosed transport runs from $700 to a couple of thousand so the whole country is your market.

[rap427]

As of this morning Cars.com has 548 cars for sale.

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by hytek

Somehow, I've impressed more people with my e-drive than the loud and noisy roars.
They see this car that seems to be from the future, and it whisks away with no noise.
It just "doesn't compute" for them.

Aside from the looks that the body styling generates, the whisking away with nary a sound is the biggest conversation piece. People become slack-jawed with drool spilling from their gaping mouths the first time they see it. It really freaks them out!!

I have never been asked while driving the i8 the #1 question people ask when they call me on the cell phone and I am driving the M6: Where are you...a race track?

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Hitz101

Thanks for the reply. Nice to hear from another r8 previous owner as well. Yeah I'm pretty excited as its always been a dream to have a car with scissor doors but something that still looked amazing as well & the i8 just matches that.

At first when I seen it & heard of the engine & everything I was like never i'd never get that thing I don't care how cool it looks I like mean loud angry cars with exotic looks not just exotic looks. But when i watched more videos & talked to some owners I grew to like it a lot & specially for the used price. Im not about to get an aventador, maybe a mclaren 12c down the line but even those used are another 40k than an i8 so for now the i8 just felt like it might be a nice experience & something different.

Also yeah I have heard the exhaust but only on many videos. Does not seem to bad but yeah NOT anywhere NEAR as nice as a real proper r8 or anything higher supercar end range. Should be fine though. I can't wait to see what it feels like opening getting in & closing those doors haha!! Don't get me wrong thats not the only reason of course I like the car but it deff helped seal the deal

............
When I want exhaust music, I take out my '67 427-435hp, sidepipe'ed Vette ;-) As they say, "give 'em some pipes".

[Hitz101]

Originally Posted by rap427

Really study Cars.com for new and pre-owned and CPO. Dealers will rarely discount these cars in an ad but conversation and cash will change the story. This tells the tale. A legitimate dealer in CA this week said a 1 owner '14, less than 500 miles would bring $115-maybe $120k. Milage and options don't seem to matter much. I was told that for a dealer purchase 500 miles or 5000 did not matter much. As we all know asking price is rarely sale price. Someone on this blog bought a '15 for he said more than $10k under sticker yesterday. An enclosed transport runs from $700 to a couple of thousand so the whole country is your market.

That is crazy. Well I love the car the deal has already been made but I'm not mad. I also got them to include no taxes or fees & also pay for enclosed shipping of it to me which is 35 hours away & costed 2k so really were looking at about 132k on it with 700 miles. Your rite though I didn't look at that site only Ebay & Auto trader & they all seemed to be listed around the same price. I tried talking them down more but I guess since I'm not just doing all cash or finance & I'm trading in a car to already take a huge 75k chunk out of the price they did not want to budge more than a few grand off asking price. Thats 3 different dealers I talked to all offered me the same deal & would not come down more than 3k. Pretty sure its probably because I'm doing the trade in as well IDK.

[rap427]

You are correct, unfortunately a trade always muddies the deal. Our challenge is they want to make good money on both the car they sell and the one they trade for. They act like the trade is a bad thing for them but they want the trade just at their price. Most of the time they have already sold your car especially if it is not their brand. That is the reason that rarely do they throw out the trade number until they talk to several wholesalers. And they never want to talk about "holdback" which could mean several thousand dollars at the end of the year from the manufacturer for each car they sell plus they get priority allocations for the next year. Invoice is the new deal number. A good thing about '14's is the service warranty transfers, '15's do not.

[rap427]

Originally Posted by StuM

............
When I want exhaust music, I take out my '67 427-435hp, sidepipe'ed Vette ;-) As they say, "give 'em some pipes".

That is real sound!!

[YungDro]

thread closed....

[Hitz101]

Here are some images of her the deal just got done! Now I have to wait 9 days for it to ship to me.

Also some wheels below me & vossen are thinking of putting on it. Thoughts?

Also pic od my wide body 6 series at SEMA.

Lastly what do you all think about smoking out the rear reflectors under the lights like blacking them out all the red not the white part for reverse light for a more aggressive look? Anyone did that yet?