[islandtrader]

Long story short, I am looking for a new daily driver around town, road trips, any weather type of car(located in Chicago). I love like it to be comfortable for long distances, my carrera would give me back pain in about 30mins.

I currently own a Range Rover Sport which I use daily, but its bulky and not the most fun to drive(boring), very comfortable though in all conditions though. I also own a ferrari 458 which is a riot but not a dialy driver by any means, too much attention and you can't drive the thing when its under 50 degrees.

Current cars I am looking at are the 991 Turbo/Turbo S, Carrera 4s, Bmw i8, and Bmw M4. How usable comfortable is the Bmw i8, anyone take it on long journeys? I'm looking to put some miles on this thing and keep it for a long time. Anyone have expirence with the Turbo? I know it doesn't compare with performance but seems like a pretty cool car and its AWD. Bmw m4 is the budget daily but not awd.

Thanks, your help is appreciated.

[Carac]

Originally Posted by islandtrader

Long story short, I am looking for a new daily driver around town, road trips, any weather type of car(located in Chicago). I love like it to be comfortable for long distances, my carrera would give me back pain in about 30mins.

I currently own a Range Rover Sport which I use daily, but its bulky and not the most fun to drive(boring), very comfortable though in all conditions though. I also own a ferrari 458 which is a riot but not a dialy driver by any means, too much attention and you can't drive the thing when its under 50 degrees.

Current cars I am looking at are the 991 Turbo/Turbo S, Carrera 4s, Bmw i8, and Bmw M4. How usable comfortable is the Bmw i8, anyone take it on long journeys? I'm looking to put some miles on this thing and keep it for a long time. Anyone have expirence with the Turbo? I know it doesn't compare with performance but seems like a pretty cool car and its AWD. Bmw m4 is the budget daily but not awd.

Thanks, your help is appreciated.

I spent a couple 500+ mile days in the i8. Like a 6 series in GT comfort cruising, but feels a LOT lighter and nimble.

On a side note, thought moving to a SVR?

It's like they cross bred a F-Type R Coupe and a RRS. Totally changes the feel and character of the car.

Happy hunting.

[hytek]

From what I hear, the i8 draws more attention than any other car. So, that may be a non-starter for you. But it's a different kind of attention, which is more due to how the car looks than how it sounds.
Personally, depending on my mood, I either enjoy, or am completely oblivious of the attention.
Otherwise, the car's pretty comfortable for California weather. It doesn't get very cold here.

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by islandtrader

Long story short, I am looking for a new daily driver around town, road trips, any weather type of car(located in Chicago). I love like it to be comfortable for long distances, my carrera would give me back pain in about 30mins.

I currently own a Range Rover Sport which I use daily, but its bulky and not the most fun to drive(boring), very comfortable though in all conditions though. I also own a ferrari 458 which is a riot but not a dialy driver by any means, too much attention and you can't drive the thing when its under 50 degrees.

Current cars I am looking at are the 991 Turbo/Turbo S, Carrera 4s, Bmw i8, and Bmw M4. How usable comfortable is the Bmw i8, anyone take it on long journeys? I'm looking to put some miles on this thing and keep it for a long time. Anyone have expirence with the Turbo? I know it doesn't compare with performance but seems like a pretty cool car and its AWD. Bmw m4 is the budget daily but not awd.

Thanks, your help is appreciated.

Greetings.

The i8 is a fine choice as a daily driver. It is comfortable (once in), efficient, quick, and garners positive attention.

Of the cars you discussed, excluding the i8, I would think that the M4 as a daily driver would be the best choice with the caveat that you had winter tires fitted when appropriate. I love the 991 to the point that I almost purchased one when my i8 was late! I think that it's performance makes it a natural choice for most driving situations and the look is timeless though not futuristic.

I hope this helped and please keep us apprised as you move through the decision making process.

Best Regards-mk

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by hytek

From what I hear, the i8 draws more attention than any other car. So, that may be a non-starter for you. But it's a different kind of attention, which is more due to how the car looks than how it sounds.
Personally, depending on my mood, I either enjoy, or am completely oblivious of the attention.
Otherwise, the car's pretty comfortable for California weather. It doesn't get very cold here.

The attention the i8 garners is a bit different than other exotically designed cars. Because of the unique drivetrain and truly futuristic looks, it literally looks like the future has arrived a few years early. When I am with my friends who have F-Cars and L-Cars, the attention is more like, 'Holy Crap...look at that xxxxx!' A completely different experience.

[MalibuBimmer]

Owning both an M4 and the i8 I agree that either would be a fine choice. They both can be daily drivers.

Some i8 owners in Finland have posted here about what good winter and snow cars the i8s are.

My i8 no longer draws attention. Occasionally someone driving an enthusiast car will politely ask me about it, but nothing more than that.

[SANguru]

here in NorCal, there are not too many i8's so it still draws a ton of attention. I have both the Tesla and M4 for daily drivers. The M4 is pretty fun and can double up for the track but the range is pretty lack luster especially around town. I've been averaging a little less than 220 miles on tank. If you are not commuting longer distances, that's not a bad idea.

I find myself driving the Tesla a lot more. It's comfortable, lot of technology (auto pilot, dual engine AWD, self leveling GPS enabled suspension) full 4G LTE internet, etc) and it's very very fast. The instant torque and freeway passing power is incredible. The AWD with the D is must especially since you are in Chicago.

[YWGT3]

The i8 has checked off all the boxes as a daily drive for me with exception to its limited trunk space, which tends to heat up over long drives.

Thanks to its more practical ground clearance, adequate turn radius, and ample parking cameras and assists, you have less of an issue when it comes to confronting urban obsticals such as steep driveway ramps, potholes, speed bumps and tight public garage maneuvers than the L and F cars.

While the i8 is not a track thoroughbred, it certainly provides for sports car feel with its quickness, low center of gravity and nimble handling. The surprising aspect is its more forgiving ride than the previously mentioned cars and especially the Porsche 911 Turbo (my kidneys and passengers will attest to that).

While I haven't driven an M4, I anticipate that the i8 delivers a vastly different driving experience - the M4 being more visceral and track inclined while the i8 is more refined and possessing an amalgamation of many different drive characteristics.

[Aye-eight]

Originally Posted by MalibuBimmer

Owning both an M4 and the i8 I agree that either would be a fine choice. They both can be daily drivers.

Some i8 owners in Finland have posted here about what good winter and snow cars the i8s are.

My i8 no longer draws attention. Occasionally someone driving an enthusiast car will politely ask me about it, but nothing more than that.

You Southern Californians just can't be impressed by anything. "Been there, seen this, owned that, moved on to stuff beyond your comprehension."

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by Aye-eight

You Southern Californians just can't be impressed by anything. "Been there, seen this, owned that, moved on to stuff beyond your comprehension."

Until it rains! Then

[Aye-eight]

Originally Posted by islandtrader

Long story short, I am looking for a new daily driver around town, road trips, any weather type of car(located in Chicago). I love like it to be comfortable for long distances, my carrera would give me back pain in about 30mins.

I currently own a Range Rover Sport which I use daily, but its bulky and not the most fun to drive(boring), very comfortable though in all conditions though. I also own a ferrari 458 which is a riot but not a dialy driver by any means, too much attention and you can't drive the thing when its under 50 degrees.

Current cars I am looking at are the 991 Turbo/Turbo S, Carrera 4s, Bmw i8, and Bmw M4. How usable comfortable is the Bmw i8, anyone take it on long journeys? I'm looking to put some miles on this thing and keep it for a long time. Anyone have expirence with the Turbo? I know it doesn't compare with performance but seems like a pretty cool car and its AWD. Bmw m4 is the budget daily but not awd.

Thanks, your help is appreciated.

In Germany, BMWs have a reputation of not being very good winter cars. This harks back from the 90s, when BMW had abandoned its original X-Drive in favor of pure RWD plus sophisticated traction control. There are many stories of BMWs on slippery roads where the anti-slip cut in so hard, there was no power left to get out of a parking spot.

They did eventually re-introduce AWD, of course, after Audi had done a sufficient number of circles around them - more than four.

I've had my i8 in Switzerland since January 2015. I use it as a daily driver and it's absolutely fantastic. We didn't have much of a winter early this year, and the car was new, so I didn't go and fool around in the snow. That may be different this season.

But if I wanted a really practical (i.e., four proper seats and trunk *******, winter-ready car that can still embarrass pretty much everyone else on an Autobahn, I'd go for an S or RS Audi. Sorry to that in this forum.

For reasons that would take too long to explain, our super-mule is a Volvo V70 T6. This is the 3-liter in-line six with 285 hp. AWD, of course. Heated seats, auxiliary heating system, the works. Quite fast. Utterly winter-savvy. But also utterlyboring to look at.

Long story short, there are interesting choices beyond BMW and Porsche.

[Aye-eight]

I have no idea why the word after trunk got astersik'd out in the post above. I'm pretyy sure I wrote S P A C E. Is that offensive to anyone? ;-)

[Aye-eight]

Originally Posted by MKSixer

Until it rains! Then

Indeed!

[MalibuBimmer]

Trunkspace

[stressdoc]

One serious limitation with the M3 w CF roof is the lack of roof rack mounts.
I guess Seasucker would be an option for the i-8 as well.