Photo: Screenshot from Youtube
In a daring attempt to make the i8 even more popular before it hits dealerships around the world, next year, BMW is now rolling out a couple of videos with the car, explaining why you should get one and why there’s been so much talk about it.
The first video of the series focuses on the performance of the new hybrid plug-in sportscar. As you probably read on my blog up until now, the i8 uses 2 motors to get around. At the front, you get the same unit used on the i3 but downgraded to make just 131 HP and 250 Nm of torque to make sure the 5 Kw battery inside the car is enough to carry you around emission free for around 20 miles.
Next up you have the first batch of B38 engines from BMW. Those are the famous 1.5-liter 3-cylinder units everyone’s been talking about that will also arrive on the new Cooper. The one in the i8 has a 154 HP/liter output meaning a top output of 231 HP and 320 Nm of torque.
The two work together when needed and deliver 362 HP and 570 Nm of torque, enough to take the i8 up to 100 km/h (62 mph) from a standstill in just 4.4 seconds. To put that in perspective, I’d like to remind you that the M5 (with a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 that makes 560 HP and 680 Nm of torque) has the same sprint time.
However, unlike its sedan brother, the i8 uses only 2.5 liter of fuel per each 100 km if needed (94 mpg) and will even go full electric, as I said earlier.
Google News