[Boss330]

Well it seems like it has to compete with a new Ford GT... Seems to have some i8 styling cues the new GT...

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...-the-jaws.html

[Adem1534]

Originally Posted by Boss330

Well it seems like it has to compete with a new Ford GT... Seems to have some i8 styling cues the new GT...

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...-the-jaws.html

Yeah. Props to ford for making one of the most beautiful cars ever imagined.
In my opinion, it absolutely destroys the i8 in terms of looks. Actually, it destroys anything BMW makes right now.

Go America. Incredible.

[YungDro]

Originally Posted by Adem1534

Yeah. Props to ford for making one of the most beautiful cars ever imagined.
In my opinion, it absolutely destroys the i8 in terms of looks. Actually, it destroys anything BMW makes right now.

Go America. Incredible.

A lot of Ford GT fans hate the new design and said it should have come with a V8.. IMO i8 still looks better..

[Adem1534]

Originally Posted by YungDro

A lot of Ford GT fans hate the new design and said it should have come with a V8.. IMO i8 still looks better..

Actually that is COMPLETELY false. If you look at the ford GT forums, 95% of the posts are raving about how amazing it looks, and how they are extremely excited, even with the TTV6.

I disagree. I think the GT looks far superior.

[OverDriven]

Originally Posted by YungDro

A lot of Ford GT fans hate the new design and said it should have come with a V8.. IMO i8 still looks better..

To each their own, but IMO the i8 looks downright boring next to the wildly styled GT.

[phoenixbmwlife]

Originally Posted by TheBingoBalls

I don't care what car it rips off, just tired of all the "BMW lost it, doesn't even have what it takes to compete with ________" comments.

Hope BMW makes it to satisfy the one or so percent who would actually buy so we can move on to other things.

It's probably 0.1 percent. 2 million cars sold world wide and I enjoy my BMW more than ever. People complained for many years that BMW is getting too heavy and now their investment into carbon fiber reinforced plastic is second to none. No other manufacturer is on the same level in terms of cheaply manufacturing it. The cars are getting lighter as a result of this and people just found something else to complain about.

I suspect the complaining is more of a personal habit than something wrong with the company. If given everything they complained about, they would still find something else to be upset with.

[VMRWheels]

Would love to see this

[SCOTT26]

Originally Posted by aajami

I thought Scott swore up and down that the i and M divisions would never intermingle.

They are not. This is too aftermarket.

[Law]

More supercar rumors?
While the i8S is a very realistic thing, i'm not too excited about the drivetrain.

There's no doubting the potential performance figures.
But a supercar should the embodiment of mechanical, emotional, and theatrical experiences, showcasing the pedigree and the absolute limits of a car manufacturer.

Part of me still wished that BMW stuck the S65 & S85 into a mid-engined chassis.
BMW missed their chance with that a decade ago. Its all about Efficient Dynamics from here on.

[clbmw]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

They are not. This is too aftermarket.

Sorry Scott, what do you mean this too aftermarket?

[ORIGIN M.]

Originally Posted by clbmw

Sorry Scott, what do you mean this too aftermarket?

Not natural looking at all.

Like to hear what Scott says.

[YungDro]

Originally Posted by Adem1534

Actually that is COMPLETELY false. If you look at the ford GT forums, 95% of the posts are raving about how amazing it looks, and how they are extremely excited, even with the TTV6.

I disagree. I think the GT looks far superior.

All i saw was negative comments and on everysingle youtube video of this car was full of negatives.. But this doesn't even compete with the i8 anyway

[YungDro]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

They are not. This is too aftermarket.

Do you have anymore info about the faster i8? And the M version

[Diver]

Originally Posted by Boss330

Maybe, but F1 cars regenerate power from braking each lap and have electric power available throughout the race...

I am pretty sure they are using super capacitors in conjunction with a battery to do it. Somewhere the price for these storage units was quoted at $70,000.

[phoenixbmwlife]

I think the i8 is a better looking car than the Ford GT. But not by much. It looks really good and I bet it is super fast.

[SCOTT26]

Originally Posted by clbmw

Sorry Scott, what do you mean this too aftermarket?

This image is too aftermarket and too influenced by BMW M. Which BMWi will not crossover with. The only BMWi aspects shared with BMW M will be Carbon Fibre.
Both BMWi and BMW M will offer their own unique vision.

[clbmw]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

This image is too aftermarket and too influenced by BMW M. Which BMWi will not crossover with. The only BMWi aspects shared with BMW M will be Carbon Fibre.
Both BMWi and BMW M will offer their own unique vision.

Ah I see you are referring to the images.

So it sounds like the carbon structure will underpin something new from i and something new from M... Nice

[ezmaass]

I don't see BMW ever making an "M" version of an "i" car - as BMW said they're incompatible philosophies. In this case, I would also suspect the chassis is incompatible as everything here has been designed around having two smaller engines (forward and aft) - now squeezing one larger conventional combustion engine as mid-engine perhaps?

Fact is, if you take away the "semi good looks" of the i8 (can't claim I totally love it), there isn't a lot to be excited about - and the evidence is the CONSTANT rumor that there will hopefully be a more powerful / conventional combustion version of the car.

[ezmaass]

Originally Posted by Bennu

I think the i8 is a better looking car than the Ford GT. But not by much. It looks really good and I bet it is super fast.

You get wrong - the thing is, it's NOT super fast... nor is it a good track performer, or otherwise. It's considerably more show than go. The 0 - 60 is about 4.2s... which is a tenth quicker than my giant 550xi... and considerably slower than my Audi R8 V10 @ around 3.6s. Fair enough, my R8 was ~$190k, topping the i8 by quite a bit. But you can get better performance from a mid-level 911 ($100k - $120k)... and it'll actually be a real sports car versus having its thin tires melt or electric engine go out after 3 laps around the track like the i8.

Hate to be so down on BMW here, as I love the brand, and I thought the i8 had great potential - but it's a showy looking Prius unfortunately. A LaFerrari or 918 Spyder, on the other hand, demonstrates the current "state of the art" for hybrid sports cars. The balance is still heavily shifted towards combustion technology with auxiliary power from electric drive. The i8's very small 3-cylinder 228 hp engine just isn't sufficient to "carry the day" once battery power is depleted... as will happen quickly if the car is really being pushed. And even when it's fully functioning, a nearly $140k base price isn't giving you anything remotely competitive performance-wise... you're paying a very hefty premium for a hybrid drive.

[phoenixbmwlife]

Originally Posted by ezmaass

You get wrong - the thing is, it's NOT super fast... nor is it a good track performer, or otherwise. It's considerably more show than go. The 0 - 60 is about 4.2s... which is a tenth quicker than my giant 550xi... and considerably slower than my Audi R8 V10 @ around 3.6s. Fair enough, my R8 was ~$190k, topping the i8 by quite a bit. But you can get better performance from a mid-level 911 ($100k - $120k)... and it'll actually be a real sports car versus having its thin tires melt or electric engine go out after 3 laps around the track like the i8.

Hate to be so down on BMW here, as I love the brand, and I thought the i8 had great potential - but it's a showy looking Prius unfortunately. A LaFerrari or 918 Spyder, on the other hand, demonstrates the current "state of the art" for hybrid sports cars. The balance is still heavily shifted towards combustion technology with auxiliary power from electric drive. The i8's very small 3-cylinder 228 hp engine just isn't sufficient to "carry the day" once battery power is depleted... as will happen quickly if the car is really being pushed. And even when it's fully functioning, a nearly $140k base price isn't giving you anything remotely competitive performance-wise... you're paying a very hefty premium for a hybrid drive.

Errrr sorry to interrupt your little ramble here but I was talking about the Ford when I said its probably super fast and not the i8. Looks are subjective and I was only stating my opinion that the i8 looks better to me.

That being said, the i8 was never made to be a fast track car so comparing performance track monsters like the 918 spider, LaFerrari or even the R8 means nothing to me.

[Carac]

Originally Posted by ezmaass

You get wrong - the thing is, it's NOT super fast... nor is it a good track performer, or otherwise. It's considerably more show than go. The 0 - 60 is about 4.2s... which is a tenth quicker than my giant 550xi... and considerably slower than my Audi R8 V10 @ around 3.6s.

For what it's worth, Car & Driver and Motor Trend did actual testing (instead of just quoting from the stat sheet like almost everyone else has) and both got 3.8sec 0-60...which is not the end-all-be-all of comparison points anyway.

We could get into a long discussion about how complaining about the i8's track performance is like throwing a pretty good (not great) college football player in the NFL and being surprised when he can't make it...but that would be silly. It's not meant for the track, it's meant for the road where you wouldn't be able to deplete the battery without severely breaking some traffic laws and negligently endangering people around you. Hence why not a single owner or publication has complained about lack of charge on the road, it just doesn't happen. CAR even said they charged the batteries back to their capacity in Sport after a couple 7/10ths laps on a track.

And as far as BMW goes, I've been "down" on them for nearly a decade. My family was THE prototypical BMW family growing up. My first car was a hand-me-down 6-year old 750iL. I learned to drive stick on a 850Ci. Others cars owned by the family included a 323i, the first X5 4.4i Sport in the state, a 745iL, a E46 M3 I drove for 10 years and 100k miles that was replaced with a loaded 2008 E90 M3 I drove for 6 months until I couldn't stand the lack of low-end torque any longer and traded it for a C63. I still have a E30 M3 and 2003 M5.

Why the history? Because the i8 is the first BMW I've truly been interested in since the E39 M5 went out of production. They still make good cars, it just feels like they're going through the motions. For nearly a decade BMW has been saying "I guess we need to make a new 3, 5, 7, etc-Series. What are Audi and Mercedes doing with theirs? Alright, let's just the same thing, but with a white/blue badge." The "big three" of German luxury are mostly playing monkey-see, monkey do. It's the most boring game of catch-up. I'm in "they've lost their way" camp and the i8 seems focused in a way they haven't been in a long time. It's not a lock-step move with their competition like everything else they make is. So while you're down on the i8, I'm down on everything else. The only other BMW on the horizon I plan on darkening the door for is the M2...and it better have some over-the-top fender flares. BMW i brought me back to the fold. The rest of the company still has work to do.

[kyleb350]

So, if they keep the HP/liter (and torque) figure in moving to a 4 cylinder and more powerful electric motors, one can assume an i8S would make 476 HP & 560 ft. lbs.

It might be a little down on power, but I'd really like this to compete with the upcoming NSX.