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BMW i8 Ranked as the Second Best Supercar of 2013

If you don't know who Jeremy Clarkson is you shouldn't be reading this. The Englishman is very well known for his ruthless critiques and his unorthodox way of testing cars until they eventually give in. He's also a columnist for the Sunday Times, the magazine that ranked the Top 10 Supercars of 2013 and suprised us with their thoughts.
BMW i8 1 photo
Photo: BMW
On more than one occasion Jeremy's ratings and opinions started controversy around the world, not only in the UK. However, we have to agree that his word matters in the automotive journalism world and most of the people you read every day want to someday end up like him (myself included).

So, when a magazine that publishes his thoughts ranks the top 100 cars of the year, you should pay attention. Of course, they did so by dividing the cars into 10 categories and the most anticipated one was the supercar territory. Here we stumbled upon a rather interesting surprise.

On the number one spot climbed the McLaren P1, as expected. After all, they are English but we can't overlook the car's performance and incredible stats: it has a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 petrol engine with 737 HP and 720 Nm (531 lb-ft) of torque joined by an electric motor that develops 178 HP and 250 Nm (192 lb-ft) of torque to make a total of 915 HP and 900 Nm (664 lb-ft) of torque.

With such numbers and a record lap on the Nurburgring, it's hard to argue that this car shouldn't have made it to the number one spot. The surprise though, is the second place, awarded to the BMW i8.

The Bavarian creation car hardly be called a supercar, the Germans don't even dare to call it that but somehow they decided it was one and it's even better than cars such as the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series and the Aston Martin Vanquish.

We agree with their decision but we have to admit we never saw it coming. After all, this is a hybrid, powered by a measly 1.5-liter engine that puts out only 231 HP, certainly a lot less than the F12 it defeated. Sure, you also have a 131 HP electric motor but even when combined, with 362 HP it doesn't come close to all the others.

Either way, we're glad the world is recognizing the amazing work done by the German engineers on the i8 and that this car is finally changing they way sport cars are built.

Story via: The Sunday Times
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