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BMW i8 Drag Races Ferrari 458 Speciale Aperta and Doesn’t Disappoint

We had the pleasure of reviewing the new BMW i8 recently and we were definitely impressed with what the engineers achieved. Sure, it’s not a supercar as you’d traditionally define one but it is a super car.
bmw i8 vs ferrari 458 special aperta 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from Youtube
How will it compare to a traditional, gas-guzzling one though? Could the i8 hang with some of the best using its 1.5-liter 3-cylinder engine? Well, in case you didn’t notice, the answer is: hell yeah!

You see, the i8 doesn’t have to rely only on the internal combustion engine and its 231 HP in any endeavor. It also has an electric motor on the front axle making 131 HP and, together, they transform this CFRP body in a high-velocity monster that has all-wheel drive and 362 HP at its disposal.

Thanks to the low weight of the car it will do 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 4.4 seconds from a standstill which is impressive, to say the least. In the video below, we get to see the beast at play against a much more potent rival.

That’s a Ferrari 458 Aperta, in this case, an improved version of the regular 458 Spider. To be more precise, the Aperta has 605 HP going to the wheels from the 4.5-liter V8 atmospheric engine. In terms of torque, it’s behind the i8 at 540 Nm compared to 570 Nm(398 lb-ft vs 420 lb-ft) but we reckon the extra HP will make up for it. There are 243 ponies in between them after all...

As far as the weight factor goes, you’ll be pleased to learn that not even that is an issue as the Aperta is a special version of the Ferrari 458 that tips the scale at just 1,445 kg (3,186 lbs) which is actually a couple of kilos lighter than the CFRP-built BMW.

So, things don’t look so great for the German, right? Well, let’s see how it handled the challenge, shall we?

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