Parisian rendez-vous
HELLO 1499cc, 3cyl, RWD, 231bhp, 235lb ft (plus 129bhp, 185lb ft e-motor driving the front wheels)
134.5mpg, 49g/km CO2 0–62mph in 4.4secs, 155mph 1560kg £ £99,845/£105,825 Total mileage 8183 Driver Charlie Turner Why it’s here Is this the future of the sports car?
hat some people are calling the sports car of the future has arrived in the TopGear car park, and it’s called the BMW i8. And, yes, though the P1, 918 and LaFerrari have hijacked hybridisation at the bleeding edge of the performance spectrum, the i8 delivers it to a (slightly) more real-world audience. Honest.
I’ll explain. As regular readers will know, the i8 is designed from the ground up as a hybrid – or “Born Electric” as BMW cringingly puts it – and is an exercise in cutting-edge tech. The passenger cell and stunning futuristic bodywork are constructed from carbon-fbre-reinforced plastic to keep weight to a minimum – 1,560kg – not bad for a hybrid. The front wheels are driven by a 129bhp electric motor, which delivers up to 185lb ft of torque, itself powered by a lithium-ion battery occupying the area where the transmission tunnel would traditionally sit. The rear wheels are driven by a 1.5-litre turbo three-cylinder petrol engine nestled behind the rear seats, which generates a separate 231bhp.
As with all hybrids, the i8 can be driven in a number of diferent modes. Pure electric mode gives a silent 17-mile range. Hybrid mode – in which the e-motor and ICE work in conjunction to maximise efciency – extends
Wthe range to a claimed 375 miles and an optimistic claimed 134.5mpg (see Paul Horrell’s explanation on p50 for details). Unlike most hybrids, though, the i8 transforms to a 911-worrying performance car at the fick of the gearlever. Harnessing the combined output of both drivetrains (efectively making it AWD) to deliver 360bhp and 420lb ft, it obliterates the 0–62mph dash in 4.4 seconds, while – technically, albeit ofcially – emitting a company-car tax-dodging 49g/km of CO2.
So what’s it like? Well, keen to get acquainted, it seemed sensible to drive it to the Paris motor show. Leaving early in the morning, with Paris a decent 318 miles away, the biggest issue wasn’t any kind of technology anxiety, but more immediate worries caused by other drivers reaching for their cameraphones. It looks very special.
Five hours later, the i8 arrived in Paris having returned an impressive 40mpg. At dawn the following day, I drove the 6.47 miles of Paris made legendary by Claude Lelouch in the flm C’était un Rendez-vous, a distance the i8 could happily demolish twice over in its stealthy e-mode... more on that next issue.
First impressions, then, are that the i8’s diversity, capability and design make it stand way ahead of the crowd. It’s going to be an utterly fascinating nine months.