Photo: Guido Ten Brink/SB-Medien
The i8 was the first BMW to wear the "i" badge, and by no means was it a bad start for the Bavarians' newly founded division. The i8 showed the other side of what a hybrid drivetrain than the one the Toyota Prius had gotten us used to.
Reading the specs of the i8 is a pretty underwhelming experience, right up to the point when you get to the 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) time. It takes the hybrid sports car just 4.4 seconds to reach that velocity, and all with half the engine of a regular BMW.
Yup, the i8 uses a three-cylinder 1.5-liter turbo as its internal combustion unit, plus an electric motor driving the front wheels, giving it the necessary traction to achieve that feat with just 362 hp of combined output.
Here's a little anecdote with the i8: as I pulled into a gas station while test driving the hybrid sports car three years ago, all eyes naturally turned on me. Well, the car, but I was there too. Some excited 20-year-old with a huge grin on his face stepped forward and asked me what engine it had. Big mistake. He should have asked about the power or, better yet, the acceleration time. "Three-cylinder 1.5-liter turbo," I said. He looked at me with a blank expression unsure whether I was making fun of him or not while the smile was gradually fading away. He turned around and I'm pretty sure he muttered something about my mother, but I couldn't hear it. True story.
The i8 magic doesn't stop here. The best thing about this car is that you can take it up a mountain road and squeeze the life out of it, but combined with the trip there and the one back home you'll still get excellent fuel efficiency. And I do mean excellent: 39 mpg is not unheard of.
But even though the i8 has what will probably prove to be a timeless design, it is still getting old. To add some spice, BMW is rolling out a special edition called Protonic Frozen Yellow which it showcased in Frankfurt after its debut in Shanghai. The vehicle gets a special paint job, newly designed 20-inch wheels and matching yellow stitches on the inside.
It's not that we don't like the new color - yellow makes anything look good - but we'd still go for the original white with black and blue accents configuration. For those interested, however, sales of the Protonic Frozen Yellow i8 should start this month.
Yup, the i8 uses a three-cylinder 1.5-liter turbo as its internal combustion unit, plus an electric motor driving the front wheels, giving it the necessary traction to achieve that feat with just 362 hp of combined output.
Here's a little anecdote with the i8: as I pulled into a gas station while test driving the hybrid sports car three years ago, all eyes naturally turned on me. Well, the car, but I was there too. Some excited 20-year-old with a huge grin on his face stepped forward and asked me what engine it had. Big mistake. He should have asked about the power or, better yet, the acceleration time. "Three-cylinder 1.5-liter turbo," I said. He looked at me with a blank expression unsure whether I was making fun of him or not while the smile was gradually fading away. He turned around and I'm pretty sure he muttered something about my mother, but I couldn't hear it. True story.
The i8 magic doesn't stop here. The best thing about this car is that you can take it up a mountain road and squeeze the life out of it, but combined with the trip there and the one back home you'll still get excellent fuel efficiency. And I do mean excellent: 39 mpg is not unheard of.
But even though the i8 has what will probably prove to be a timeless design, it is still getting old. To add some spice, BMW is rolling out a special edition called Protonic Frozen Yellow which it showcased in Frankfurt after its debut in Shanghai. The vehicle gets a special paint job, newly designed 20-inch wheels and matching yellow stitches on the inside.
It's not that we don't like the new color - yellow makes anything look good - but we'd still go for the original white with black and blue accents configuration. For those interested, however, sales of the Protonic Frozen Yellow i8 should start this month.
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