[Aye-eight]

Originally Posted by ZEEM3R

Yeah umm... I'll take the Porsche, thank you very much.

I had exactly that choice when the time came for a new car. And although I've been driving Porsches for the past decade, I picked the i8, thank you very much.

The 911 Turbo is awesome, no doubt. But it's "just" the latest iteration - albeit the best - of what we've all seen for decades. The i8 is something different. It doesn't have to be better in all aspects. And few of us, I dare say, have the opportunity and / or the skills to really push these kinds of cars to their limits and make the small differences count - I don't care what you think of your driving skills, most of us here are no Walter Röhrls.

So, in daily driving, it doesn't really matter if you can get an extra 2/10th of a g around a bend in a Porsche. What does matter, though, is that in an i8, you get to experience a whole new combination of dynamics and efficiency. On a daily basis. That makes it a much better car, IMHO.

[Aye-eight]

Originally Posted by classyfast

I'm not into hybrid anything....

Troll. ;-)

[Aye-eight]

To me, the AMG GT as a great example of what's been going wrong with Merc for a while now. Seems like through that short marriage with Chrysler, they got completely brainwashed into the American big-engine-RWD thing, to the point where the AMG cars are nearly undriveable, certainly so with electronics off. There's no engineering finesse, no new ideas. Just brute force.

Don't get me wrong: I do like a good old V8 driving the rear wheels. I own a classic Corvette. But it feels out of place for a new car. Like Harley-Davidson: construction principles that are over half a century old, packaged as cool.

So, in that sense, this comparison is interesting: new technology experiment vs. exteme engineering refinement vs. bigger is better.

[YWGT3]

Originally Posted by Aye-eight

To me, the AMG GT as a great example of what's been going wrong with Merc for a while now. Seems like through that short marriage with Chrysler, they got completely brainwashed into the American big-engine-RWD thing, to the point where the AMG cars are nearly undriveable, certainly so with electronics off. There's no engineering finesse, no new ideas. Just brute force.

Don't get me wrong: I do like a good old V8 driving the rear wheels. I own a classic Corvette. But it feels out of place for a new car. Like Harley-Davidson: construction principles that are over half a century old, packaged as cool.

So, in that sense, this comparison is interesting: new technology experiment vs. exteme engineering refinement vs. bigger is better.

Admittedly, you're right. Test drove the Merc GT and found it to be less sure footed even with the drive electronics on. Juxtaposed to the i8, the Merc GT chassis was quick to demonstrate the mismatch between its powertrain and body. Despite its power, it's not the type of car to take to the track, unless you're accustomed to a heavy duty workout with a less compliant vehicle. The i8, on the other hand, is a finely tuned piece of engineering capable of providing balanced and more precise handling when put through its paces. It certainly would be an easier vehicle to manage around the track. While on the road, the i8 offers a GT ride few cars with low center of gravity and similar handling characteristics can offer. This last observation became glaringly apparent when I drove off with my i8 from the Merc GT test drive.

[ZEEM3R]

Originally Posted by Aye-eight

I had exactly that choice when the time came for a new car. And although I've been driving Porsches for the past decade, I picked the i8, thank you very much.

The 911 Turbo is awesome, no doubt. But it's "just" the latest iteration - albeit the best - of what we've all seen for decades. The i8 is something different. It doesn't have to be better in all aspects. And few of us, I dare say, have the opportunity and / or the skills to really push these kinds of cars to their limits and make the small differences count - I don't care what you think of your driving skills, most of us here are no Walter Röhrls.

So, in daily driving, it doesn't really matter if you can get an extra 2/10th of a g around a bend in a Porsche. What does matter, though, is that in an i8, you get to experience a whole new combination of dynamics and efficiency. On a daily basis. That makes it a much better car, IMHO.

Lmao relax! It's great that you love your car but I just have different tastes than you. Same way you've been driving Porsches for years, iv been driving BMWs for almost 10 years and alllllllllll the models seem the same to me. Don't get me wrong, I think the i8 is amazing. I saw one few weeks ago and took out the time to make a uturn and come back to get a better look. But at the end of the day for me, it's still a BMW and while the i8 is very different, it's still a BMW to me and I'm ready to move on.. Who knows though, I might come back one day.

[YWGT3]

Originally Posted by ZEEM3R

Lmao relax! It's great that you love your car but I just have different tastes than you. Same way you've been driving Porsches for years, iv been driving BMWs for almost 10 years and alllllllllll the models seem the same to me. Don't get me wrong, I think the i8 is amazing. I saw one few weeks ago and took out the time to make a uturn and come back to get a better look. But at the end of the day for me, it's still a BMW and while the i8 is very different, it's still a BMW to me and I'm ready to move on.. Who knows though, I might come back one day.

Not asking you to reconsider, but the i8 is not a run of the mill combustion engined rear wheel drive car. While there exists certain design elements in the i8 that are akin to the rest of the BMW lineup (dash dashboard, gear lever and center console), the rest of the vehicle seems to be a total revolutionary departure from what one would expect from BMW, thanks to its i division.

Before passing quick judgement, I would encourage you to test drive the i8. I hope you will be as surprised as I was and I've been a BMW driver for nearly 20 years.