BMW officially making i8 Spyder a reality
Meanwhile, McLaren does not intend to build a down-market sports car to compete with the Porsche Cayman
Since its debut at the Beijing Motor Show in 2012, we haven’t heard much from BMW about the fate of the sexy i8 Spyder concept.
Automotive News says that’s about to change. Speaking to a German newspaper, BMW CEO Harald Krueger says a production i8 Spyder is coming soon, though there’s no set timeline. Still, it’s officially coming — and that’s all that matters, right?
The i8 Spyder is largely identical to the standard i8, around since 2014. The powertrain will likely be shared, but a larger battery pack, and therefore a power bump, isn’t out of the question.
The i8 pumps out a total of 357 horsepower and 420 lb.-ft. of torque, completing the zeroto-100 km/h run in 4.4 seconds.
Chances are the production i8 Spyder will follow the concept, complete with a removable roof panel, as well as a redesigned trunk lid and engine panel, to set it apart from the fixed-roof i8.
McLaren stays in its lane
McLaren has set a hard limit in its move down-market.
In an interview with Autocar, designer Robert Melville shot down the idea of building a sports car pegged as a Porsche Cayman rival, calling the move “not exclusive enough” for the British automaker.
“You look at Ferrari. They are coming from the very high end,” Melville said. “The 570S is stretching us down to R8s and 911s, and that is as low as we’d want to come.”
While exclusivity might be a valid factor, another significant reason for McLaren’s resistance in moving too far downmarket could be the platforms on which their cars are based. From the 540C to the P1, every car in McLaren’s lineup is a similar monocoque chassis and features a 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 — albeit in very different flavours — paired to a seven-speed dualclutch transmission.
McLaren intends to make up for the lack of a Cayman-level car by adding more body styles to the Sports Series, including Spider and Gran Turismo variants.