[954Stealth]

BMW i8 review - specifications, price, 0-60 time and more

23 FEB 2015 by: DAN PROSSER
http://www.evo.co.uk/bmw/i8



VERDICT:Can BMW's performance hybrid live up to the hype?
EVO RATING: 4.5 Stars
PRICE: £104,590
FOR Goes as well as it looks - and it's even fun to drive
AGAINST Lacks the outright driving thrills of the best £100k sports cars

Evo verdict

The i8 is a new age sports car, but it proves that the basic tenets of involving handling, strong straight-line performance and eye-catching styling will always be central to the sports car proposition.

With its clever hybrid drivetrain, the i8 is very nearly as accelerative as a Porsche 911 Carrera, but it can also cover close to 20 miles in electric only mode, which makes it a unique offering at this price point. The drivetrain is certainly an impressive technological achievement and an object lesson in systems integration, but it lacks the emotional appeal of a soulful, high-revving engine and that will count against it among certain traditional sports car buyers.

Aside from slightly remote steering and a lack of outright grip across the front axle in hard cornering – a result of its narrow tyres – the i8 is genuinely fun to drive. It has superb body control and excellent balance.

The i8 turns heads like few others £100,000 sports cars, perhaps because it is the car of the moment. The cabin architecture is very seductive, but it’s something of a shame that all of the minor controls and the infotainment interface are lifted directly from the rest of the BMW range.

Evo tip

Take that extraordinary fuel economy figure of 134mpg with a pinch of salt. The standardised EU test leans heavily in favour of hybrid cars and few buyers will replicate the profile of it in normal driving. The key to getting the most out of the i8 is being able to charge via a mains socket regularly, in which case it can be run in its electric-only mode for shorter journeys without burning fuel.

Over longer journeys, the i8’s fuel economy figures falls in line with that of a conventional car, although it will prove to be more fuel efficient than a Porsche 911 long term. We’ve average around 40mpg when we’ve tested various i8s. One advantage of that hybrid drivetrain, however, is that the i8 is exempt from road tax in the UK and the London congestion charge.

Evo comment

‘The i8’s batteries are located low in the chassis and within the wheelbase, which gives it perfect natural balance. It also has better body control over a tricky road than any of BMW’s high-performance M cars. In fact, there is so much untapped potential here that an M version would surely be something very special indeed.

‘As it is, the i8 is let down slightly by its vague steering and low rolling resistance tyres, but that’s only in extreme cornering. For the most part the i8 is a very convincing machine that augers well for the future of the sports car.’ Dan Prosser, road test editor.

and they had this youtube link up from an earlier article: