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BMW i8 Reviewed on UK Roads

Taking the new plug-in hybrid sports car from BMW for a ride around the UK roads could reveal a couple of interesting facts that you’d otherwise be oblivious to. Some of those roads have been known to be less than comfortable and they are also quite famous for their narrowness. Now, with the i8, those things might just matter.
BMW i8 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from Youtube
The guys from Autocar, Steve Suitcliffe to be more precise, took BMW’s new car out for a test drive and, for the first time in a lot of time, we can actually watch them praise it, something worth watching in itself, leaving all the other interesting details behind.

What amazed us the most was how much sense Steve actually made and how good he understood the i8 and what it was designed for. You see, most people will always either compare its performance to ‘conventional’ cars like the Porsche 911 and Audi R8 or they will go to the other extreme, comparing it to hybrids that have no racing capabilities whatsoever like... let’s say a Prius.

The thing is, the i8 combines the best of both worlds and shows us the future at the same time. With the petrol reserves continuously getting smaller (actually British Petroleum claims they will run dry in 53 years) an alternative has to be found. However, we don’t want that alternative to be completely electric.

The reasons are aplenty but most revolve around the silent character of electric motors. There’s just no excitement there, nothing to get your blood flowing. Sure, they have full torque from the get go but that’s about it.

Cars like the Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918 Spyder and McLaren P1 are absolutely stunning themselves but that kind of performance and the prices they have make them just a dream for most people.

Sure, the i8 isn’t cheap either but compared to those hypercars, it’s peanuts. And it’s also within the price range of the aforementioned 911 and R8 and choosing between them knowing how the BMW looks like, what mpg (121) it returns and how ‘green’ it is shouldn’t be challenging for anyone. We’ll let Steve do the rest of the explaining in the video below.

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