We were blown away by the i8 on the international
launch but does the car’s wow factor translate onto the UK’s roads? We
travelled to Scotland to find out.
The i8 effectively has four driving modes. The default
setting is Comfort, and it's this mode that is dialled-in on initial start up,
and what you get here is an intelligent interaction between the petrol
combustion engine and the electric motor. Switch to EcoPro and you get more
intervention from the electric motor and a dulling of the throttle response
while eDrive (that we're currently in) will ensure you just run on the
front-wheel drive electric motor. It still feels pretty perky in this mode,
though, and by no means gets left behind by other cars.
It’s
also great to travel in, borderline spectacular to drive on most roads and, as
a result, is a machine that car enthusiasts will surely find as fascinating as
it gets at this kind of money.
However, it's in Sport mode that the i8 really struts its
stuff and we engage this setting as we head out of Inverness and head for the
hills and the west coast of Scotland. Unlike in the rest of the range this is
engaged by moving the gear lever over to the left rather than pressing the
EcoPro-Comfort-Sport switch and as well as ensuring the petrol engine runs the whole
time and accessing the maximum boost from the unit Sport mode gets the electric
motor working in conjunction to give you the full 362hp.
The car is in
Sport mode that the i8 really struts its stuff and we engage this setting as we
head out of Inverness and head for the hills and the west coast of Scotland.
While throttle response wasn't exactly dulled in Comfort
mode it's now much more responsive and even small increments are rewarded with
a significant increase in forward momentum. As the roads open out and the
traffic thins from a light sprinkle to nil we can really exploit the i8's
potential. You're immediately struck by two main thoughts - it feels massively
fast and sounds utterly fantastic! Who would have thought that a 1.5-litre
three-pot could sound this good? Yes, the engine note is amplified and piped
into the cockpit but it's by no means a fake soundtrack - there's a hint of
off-beat melody but it's overlaid with a really decent mechanical sound that
probably owes more to a boxer layout than an in-line setup. It's certainly not
a traditional BMW noise but it's intoxicating all the same.
The performance too is top-notch with the i8 picking up speed
far faster than 362hp would lead you to believe was possible. The lightweight
construction no doubt helps here and the instant torque available from the
electric motor really punches you out of corners. It doesn't quite feel as
manic as an M4 or an F10 M5 but it's not far off either. In Sport mode you can
leave the six-speed auto to its own devices or you can use either the gear
lever or steering wheel-mounted paddles to swap cogs; using the paddles seems
to allow you to get into a real flow with the car as it devours the Tarmac.
Select
Sport, put your foot down and it delivers, plain and simple, which actually
makes all the other clever stuff that it can do – its massive mpg, its all-but
zero emissions when driving in e-mode, its ability to cruise along a motorway
like a limousine - that much more remarkable overall.
