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      10-26-2018, 12:06 AM   #1
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How's the i8 in the winter?

Looking into getting an i8 as my dd and wanted some feedback for winter driving?

Clearance is not the best, but I have another SUV for those snow storm days.
Just wanted to see what you guys thought for light snow with winter tires?

Particularly, anyone in Toronto that survived a winter with it?

Thanks for the help!
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      10-26-2018, 03:19 AM   #2
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Feels very much like any 4wd, but minimal clearance as you say. I tried a fairly steep hill covered in snow with my normal Bridgestone's on and it didn't play very nicely at all. I threw on some snow socks onto the back wheels and it got up just fine. With winter rubber installed, your only problem will be clearance.

I'd avoid floods of course as I believe the air intake is low down at the back.
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      10-26-2018, 09:12 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by relinquish View Post
Looking into getting an i8 as my dd and wanted some feedback for winter driving?

Clearance is not the best, but I have another SUV for those snow storm days.
Just wanted to see what you guys thought for light snow with winter tires?

Particularly, anyone in Toronto that survived a winter with it?

Thanks for the help!
BMW uses them to do tours and driving classes in the winter/snow in northern europe. You can see whole winter driving classes built around them. There are several photos of these classes which can be seen on the events pages of the iPure Impulse website...
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      11-04-2018, 04:11 PM   #4
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It's great, with the right tyres:


My instructor, in Finland. But I found this super easy to do in i8 and replicated it. Studded tyres. On ice. I found it harder in X-drive BMWs in fact.





Me doing a J-Turn in Austria. Winter tyres. On snow.

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      11-04-2018, 07:33 PM   #5
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That’s great. Here in US I am not finding any available tires for i8 that are even snow tires. Has anyone found an option without changing size?
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      11-07-2018, 06:12 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NGR View Post
Feels very much like any 4wd, but minimal clearance as you say. I tried a fairly steep hill covered in snow with my normal Bridgestone's on and it didn't play very nicely at all. I threw on some snow socks onto the back wheels and it got up just fine. With winter rubber installed, your only problem will be clearance.

I'd avoid floods of course as I believe the air intake is low down at the back.
Where I live, winter tires are mandatory. Frankly, I don’t get anyone who drives in cold and / or snowy weather on summer tires. They’re a danger to themselves and others.
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      11-07-2018, 06:50 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by relinquish View Post
Looking into getting an i8 as my dd and wanted some feedback for winter driving?

Clearance is not the best, but I have another SUV for those snow storm days.
Just wanted to see what you guys thought for light snow with winter tires?

Particularly, anyone in Toronto that survived a winter with it?

Thanks for the help!
I have driven my i8 as a dd through three Swiss winters, coming up on the fourth. I don’t play in deep snow - obviously - because of the ground clearance. It handles fine. Not significantly better or worse than other sports cars - which generally don‘t make great winter cars, of course. One challenge is that full-time AWD is only on in sports mode, which comes with a „twitchier“ gas pedal. And that is the opposite of what you want in slippery conditions. In manual-shift cars, I routinely take off in second gear to manage the torque a bit better. Unfortunately, flappy-pedal (cheers to Clarkson) gearboxes don’t let you do that.
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      11-07-2018, 09:54 PM   #8
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Also Swiss here. I love driving the i8 in the winter. It drives like a 4wd all the time. I could not slide in the back as the poster before mentioned. E-mode is not good in snow of course.
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      11-09-2018, 09:30 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Epirali View Post
That’s great. Here in US I am not finding any available tires for i8 that are even snow tires. Has anyone found an option without changing size?
You don't really want some shop monkey to be changing tires twice a year on your nice BMW rims, do you?

In any case, its going to be tough to find low-profile snow tires for 20 inch rims. Snow tires aren't usually a "low profile" application... Much better options for 19 inch rims...

Just get some decent $300 19" rims for the winter along with some performance snow tires like Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 (235/45R19). No sense exposing your nice BMW rims to the winter chemicals and salt and if you put snows on dedicated rims you can change them yourself in your garage/driveway...

Tire Rack is your friend! www.tirerack.com
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      11-09-2018, 03:01 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evanevery View Post
You don't really want some shop monkey to be changing tires twice a year on your nice BMW rims, do you?

In any case, its going to be tough to find low-profile snow tires for 20 inch rims. Snow tires aren't usually a "low profile" application... Much better options for 19 inch rims...

Just get some decent $300 19" rims for the winter along with some performance snow tires like Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 (235/45R19). No sense exposing your nice BMW rims to the winter chemicals and salt and if you put snows on dedicated rims you can change them yourself in your garage/driveway...

Tire Rack is your friend! www.tirerack.com
You’re exactly right, I was not planning on changing the tires but putting them on a disposable set of wheels. Tire rack does not show any compatible snow tires but I found some and another site, and other posters or saying BMW has a set available.

No I have to figure out if I want to expose my card to the sold some chemicals we use all the time here, and we overuse them like you wouldn’t believe .
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      11-09-2018, 04:28 PM   #11
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Yes, Tirerack does show wheel/tire combinations for the i8. I just ran it (again) and it came up with two tire choices and a bunch of wheels. Just posted this on another thread:

For example:

- Pirelli Sottozero 3 235/45R19 ($214 ea) on
- Ultraleggera HLT Gloss Black 19x8's ($458 ea)
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      11-09-2018, 07:39 PM   #12
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Also Swiss, but I've sworn my i8 will never see any snow like my former Z3.
Although good to know what's up.
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      11-12-2018, 10:35 AM   #13
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BTW - Took my i8 out for laughs this weekend after an inch or so in the snow. I'm sure the car is quite capable with proper tires but the factory summer tires are like Mr. Toads Wild Ride with even a trace of snow!

I didn't really expect stellar performance with the factory rubber, but I didn't realize it would be quite so "puckery"!
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      11-13-2018, 07:35 AM   #14
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I believe taking summer tires in snow will damage them, no?
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      11-13-2018, 08:42 AM   #15
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Quote:
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I believe taking summer tires in snow will damage them, no?
It depends on the tires. For most DOT approved passenger tires (even very high performance summer tires) this is not the case. They will certainly not be very effective in the colder temps, but it also shouldn't damage them (unless you hit something). They just won't work worth a crap.

On the other hand, in my track car (M4), I have Hoosier R7 race slicks. Those tires are NEVER supposed to experience temps below 40F. Not just "never be driven" below 40F, but never EXPERIENCE temps below 40F (not even in storage). The only DOT approved tires I'm aware of which have temp limits would be the Sport Cup 2's (not to be used below 32F), but again, I think its a performance issue (not a damage issue).

Most of the temp limits on DOT approved tires are based on performance. However, merely exposing some race tires to extreme temps will permanently modify the characteristics of the rubber compound (same principle as "heat cycling"). It generally takes one "heat cycle" (event) to bring race rubber up to its best performance level. However, after multiple additional events, these tires will also "heat cycle out" so that the effectiveness of the tires is permanently and significantly diminished. Some race tires will heat cycle out after only 15-20 "events" and are effectively "done" .
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      11-13-2018, 12:42 PM   #16
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Thanks, this is all I got.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret...jsp?techid=273
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      11-18-2018, 01:38 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aye-eight View Post
I have driven my i8 as a dd through three Swiss winters, coming up on the fourth. I don’t play in deep snow - obviously - because of the ground clearance. It handles fine. Not significantly better or worse than other sports cars - which generally don‘t make great winter cars, of course. One challenge is that full-time AWD is only on in sports mode, which comes with a „twitchier“ gas pedal. And that is the opposite of what you want in slippery conditions. In manual-shift cars, I routinely take off in second gear to manage the torque a bit better. Unfortunately, flappy-pedal (cheers to Clarkson) gearboxes don’t let you do that.
I was hoping the AWD would handle better in light snow than a typical RWD? I know tires make all the difference but I was hoping AWD isn't just a placebo effect!

I was contemplating on an R8 as well but heard it didn't do as well compared to the i8. Anyone with any experience?
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      11-18-2018, 01:42 AM   #18
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How are your setups in the winter? Still running staggered?

Has anyone tried 18s for the winter? Will they clear?
Not a big fan of 19s in the winter and trying to dodge potholes- driving like I'm drunk lol
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      11-18-2018, 09:00 AM   #19
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I'm in the UK and the winters we have here are quite random. Either there's no snowfall, or it's so bad that it causes chaos for weeks.

So I let the idea of a set of winter wheels as:

A) the BMW stock wheels wont get damaged
B) I can change them over myself (can't do that with tyres) - which saves me £100 a year, and gives me the flexibility of only changing if I need to.
C) I expect it'll be a lot easier to get winter tyres for 18" or 19" wheels.

However, how the hell can I figure out which 18"/19" wheels will fit the i8?!
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      11-19-2018, 01:22 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by relinquish View Post
How are your setups in the winter? Still running staggered?

Has anyone tried 18s for the winter? Will they clear?
Not a big fan of 19s in the winter and trying to dodge potholes- driving like I'm drunk lol
Typically, snow tires are installed on smaller rims (19") and are not installed in staggered sizes. Snow tires don't benefit from low-profile rims or wider rims. Snow tires are often narrower tires than stock summer tires. Wider is not better in this case.

Snow Tire applications are often the same size rims and tires both front and rear. If the appearance of the narrower rear wheels/tires (vs stock) look "anemic" under the rear fenders you may want to add some spacers. I had to do this with my X6M to fill out the wheel wells...
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      11-19-2018, 01:23 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by relinquish View Post
How are your setups in the winter? Still running staggered?

Has anyone tried 18s for the winter? Will they clear?
Not a big fan of 19s in the winter and trying to dodge potholes- driving like I'm drunk lol

Huh?

20's are stock, 19's are already downsized for snows... (At least on my 2019)

You can't go too small (18" ?) as you will have interference issues with your calipers...
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      11-19-2018, 01:26 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MajorJump View Post
I'm in the UK and the winters we have here are quite random. Either there's no snowfall, or it's so bad that it causes chaos for weeks.

So I let the idea of a set of winter wheels as:

A) the BMW stock wheels wont get damaged
B) I can change them over myself (can't do that with tyres) - which saves me £100 a year, and gives me the flexibility of only changing if I need to.
C) I expect it'll be a lot easier to get winter tyres for 18" or 19" wheels.

However, how the hell can I figure out which 18"/19" wheels will fit the i8?!
I posted this in the winter tire thread (cheaper wheels are also available): https://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/s....php?t=1553259
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