RE: BMW i8: Review

[Urban]

I actually saw one driving on the road - May have been the exact same blue demo car last week here in Scotland. Looked amazing in the flesh. Did anyone else see it........it was on Thursday not far from Aviemore heading towards Perth.

[Vee12V]

[redacted]

[anonymous-user]

Matt Bird said:

I thought the fuel economy may raise a few eyebrows! The BMW PR team were a little surprised...

It would be really interesting to try one day to day and see what a real world MPG figure is like. When there are roads like the A832 (https://goo.gl/maps/S4m7Z) the driving is perhaps a little more enthusiastic than usual. And it wasn't all me, the car is shared with another journo don't forget!


Any more questions, MPG or otherwise, more than welcome!


Matt

The point i fear many people are missing is that just because the car is a hybrid it is not magic

The car makes 360bhp. That takes a lot of fuel if you drive in a fashion that asks for that power to be generated, regardless of how or where that energy comes from.

What you need to consider is that this car has the performance of an M3. Now if your article had been about taking an M3 to Scotland and you had returned 25mpg for that, not one person would have blinked an eyebrow.

BUT, when you stop driving like a boyracer, the I3 can then start to leverage it's efficiency improvements, unlike the M3, which i'd say you'd struggle to get much over 30mpg from under any driving conditions, no matter how slowly you drove.

Now, i have no idea how hard you actually drove the car, but i'm going to suggest that an M3 driven the same way would have been unlike to break out of the teens.


As an aside, i don't think this car can be compared to a 911 or V8v, as it's not really about being a "sportscar" in the traditional sense. A fuel efficent M3, Tesla rival, or economical 6 series would be a better "niche" for the car to occupy imo.

[otolith]

But an M3 is a massive porky saloon! If it's an M3 alternative, I was definitely right in my assessment that I didn't know what it was for.

[alexnaderinkram]

proper said:

The energy to propel the thing has to come somewhere, doesn't it?
Downsizing the engine has no real world MPG benefits.
BTW: Ford Focus 1 litre Ecoboost does 40MPG.

Ha! If you're lucky. I drove one hard along a 40-odd mile stretch of country road, and it barely returned 30mpg. At motorway speeds, the 5-speed 105bhp model creeps into the low 40s. The six speed is better thanks to longer gearing, but it still is pretty poor, especially compared to the claimed figures.

[zeppelin101]

kambites said:

I wonder how long it'll be before they change the NDEC cycle to give moderately sensible figures for plug-in hybrids.

Later part of the decade.

Comments about fuel economy make me giggle. The review hardly says they were pootling along now does it? If I drove like a spanner in my Nissan I'd get 10mpg. Do the same in my E46 and get 12mpg.

Do the same in this and get... 24mpg? Well that is an improvement.

I'm sure if you drove it like you would a normal car day-to-day it would probably do grand. But then we couldn't have fuel economy hysteria on PH so that's not acceptable.

[dukebox9reg]

Max_Torque said:

Matt Bird said:

I thought the fuel economy may raise a few eyebrows! The BMW PR team were a little surprised...

It would be really interesting to try one day to day and see what a real world MPG figure is like. When there are roads like the A832 (https://goo.gl/maps/S4m7Z) the driving is perhaps a little more enthusiastic than usual. And it wasn't all me, the car is shared with another journo don't forget!


Any more questions, MPG or otherwise, more than welcome!


Matt

The point i fear many people are missing is that just because the car is a hybrid it is not magic

The car makes 360bhp. That takes a lot of fuel if you drive in a fashion that asks for that power to be generated, regardless of how or where that energy comes from.

What you need to consider is that this car has the performance of an M3. Now if your article had been about taking an M3 to Scotland and you had returned 25mpg for that, not one person would have blinked an eyebrow.

BUT, when you stop driving like a boyracer, the I3 can then start to leverage it's efficiency improvements, unlike the M3, which i'd say you'd struggle to get much over 30mpg from under any driving conditions, no matter how slowly you drove.

Now, i have no idea how hard you actually drove the car, but i'm going to suggest that an M3 driven the same way would have been unlike to break out of the teens.


As an aside, i don't think this car can be compared to a 911 or V8v, as it's not really about being a "sportscar" in the traditional sense. A fuel efficent M3, Tesla rival, or economical 6 series would be a better "niche" for the car to occupy imo.

M3 though is half the price give or take some options. a 10mpg difference in economy won't dent the 40-50k for a good long while.

The M3 doesnt also make a sing and dance about doing 100mpg+

Ofcourse it should be put against 100+ sports coupes. This really is the new M1. Just because it doesnt have a thumping V8 in the boot doesnt mean it shouldnt be compared. BMW's choice to go down that PT route. Its not a Big GT car like the M6 or a Saloon/saloon based Coupe. The closest rival is i'd say the R8.

I'll have a F-Type and lots of change please.

[SteelySteve]

Forget this milk float, surely an M8 is on the way? Get the looks, doors, but with an M6 motor instead of a Mini one!

[Beefmeister]

[redacted]

[otolith]

[Mr Whippy]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Exactly what I keep saying.

Hybrid is great but if the basic engine in there is crap to begin with then what is the appeal in a £100,000 sports car?

The N52 was a gem of an engine, just on it's own in this car it'd probably be the same performance and same mpg except in really hard driving or in really gentle driving.

Throw hybrid bits on there too and it'd be mind-bending performance when you wanted it, but also really enable some great mpg when you didn't.


It's like they've gone too far with paring back the engine for no apparent benefits that a £100,000 car owner would even care about?!

Dave

[Dave Hedgehog]

ROFL

[3795mpower]

People are jumping on this too soon.

Lets await a proper test or two.

Say for example, 5 track laps keeping up with a 911 C2, then compare fuel consumption of both.

Then perhaps a drive across central London in rush hour sat behind a 1.6 Focus and again compare
The mpg.

The comments about achieving 24mpg whilst being driven like you stole it miss the point.
Any car will cream it's fuel like that.

But lets see how it delivers first before passing judgement.

This is after all, a stylish coupe capable of sub 5's to 60, the "potential" ability to half the consumption
Of a 911 at a steady cruise and finally, the ability to travel through a city in zero emissions mode.

Not a bad set of stats that.

[F40GT346]

I saw an i8 at the good festival of speed in the Michelin super car paddock. It looks stunning - looks more expensive than 100K. I had a quick look inside this 2 seater hybrid sport car and to my surprise found 2 small 911 sized rear seats, its actually a 2+2 yet no review I have read mentions this. It makes a huge difference having the potential to carry 2 kids in the car at the weekend and is one of the reasons many supposed 911 rivals (e.g. R8) havent toppled the 911.

Its a stunning car, 2+2 configuration and the drive train is the future. I would love to have one but just need to find 100K without selling my GT3!

[goron59]

"Can solely regen be used through this series of bends without touching the brakes? Can enough energy be reclaimed to finish the journey on electricity? Can I maintain enough pace using just the eDrive mode?"

Have I had my testicles surgically removed?

[g3org3y]

Buy this car for the looks alone!

(IMVHO) BMW have been very brave to launch something so close in design to the original concept. You'd need something very serious to out pose this.

[anonymous-user]

I think too many people are reviewing this car, with an old fashioned approach. The i8 is not about "today" really, it is about tommorrow. When the Prius first came out people said "why would you buy that when you can but x,y or z for much less money" and at the time, they were right. Fast forward 5 years and the Prius is totally mainstream.

If in 5 years, we get cars with the i8s blend of performance and economy as mainstream i will be very happy indeed!. Porsche nor AML are going to loose a single sale of a 911/V8v to this car today, this year or probably even the year afterwards. But they will be forced to respond to this car eventually, because it and cars like it are the future no doubt about it. Electrification of mass private transit is just starting, but i think it will (and has) gain support incredibly quickly.

So, whilst an F type might be £30k cheaper today, it is a dinosaur by comparison. Buckle up and hold on tight, the Futures coming, and it's coming fast ;-)

[mrclav]

Max_Torque said:

I think too many people are reviewing this car, with an old fashioned approach. The i8 is not about "today" really, it is about tommorrow. When the Prius first came out people said "why would you buy that when you can but x,y or z for much less money" and at the time, they were right. Fast forward 5 years and the Prius is totally mainstream.

If in 5 years, we get cars with the i8s blend of performance and economy as mainstream i will be very happy indeed!. Porsche nor AML are going to loose a single sale of a 911/V8v to this car today, this year or probably even the year afterwards. But they will be forced to respond to this car eventually, because it and cars like it are the future no doubt about it. Electrification of mass private transit is just starting, but i think it will (and has) gain support incredibly quickly.

So, whilst an F type might be £30k cheaper today, it is a dinosaur by comparison. Buckle up and hold on tight, the Futures coming, and it's coming fast ;-)

This. Absolutely.

[jamespink]

JonnyVTEC said:

24mpg doesnt matter.

If you go for a blast who cares?
If you commute a normal distance you wont use any fuel.

I simply fail to see how people continue to interepret these numbers from one a LONG single drive by a magazine exploring limits as the absolute figure for how good the car is in terms of efficiency. So what if its only a 1.5 4 pot.... its still got 230bhp! Same as a 2.5 litre Focus ST....

All this has made me feel much better. I would love a new i8 but can not possibly gather £100k together and blow it on a new fun car that does 24mpg. Better stick to the old M5 (20mpg)and pay a lump of the mortgage...

[Dave Hedgehog]

g3org3y said:

Buy this car for the looks alone!

(IMVHO) BMW have been very brave to launch something so close in design to the original concept. You'd need something very serious to out pose this.

ignoring the pooing a 911 rear, i do not like the 3 colours, all black with blue trim might look better

but you are correct it is nice to see a BMW that does not look like every other BMW and at least this one for the most part is not a fugly washing machine like the i3


indeed much better