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.
Given the car's four-wheel drive setup it really grips well despite
the unfashionably skinny rubber fitted to those 20-inch wheels. You get the
feeling that its limits are far higher than the driver's and it instils a great
feeling of confidence in the chassis.
The
ride in sport is pretty firm, so much so that I wish you could put the power
train in sport and have the dampers in comfort but at the moment that's not
possible, although BMW might well make a change to the software on that one in
months to come.
In Sport mode the electronic dampers are automatically set
in their firmer mode - unlike other BMWs there's no facility to just have the
sporty throttle map without having the tauter chassis - but the car still rides
remarkably well and this means you can carry plenty of speed even over the most
unkempt pieces of road. Keep pushing and you will ultimately detect traces of
understeer but in general it just grips and corners with a very neutral
attitude. The big M cars might have more straight-line grunt but I doubt they
could flow down these roads with such alacrity.
The big M cars
might have more straight-line grunt but I doubt they could flow down these
roads with such alacrity.
The brakes are more than up to the job of washing off speed
when needed and are well modulated and while the electric steering isn't going
to trouble an E30 M3 in the feel stakes you do have a pretty good idea at
what's going on at the helm. In short the i8 simply monsters these roads with a
flat, confidence- inspiring attitude and an engine note that's constantly
egging you on to try a little harder. Economy does take a bashing, though. The
60mpg or so we saw when pottering around has dropped to mid-30s but at these
sort of speeds I'd image an M car would be well into the low teens.
Whether
it is profit making for BMW or not will be of no concern to its potential
customers, however, who will instead be rather more interested in the way it
drives and what it’s like to sit in, ride in, revel in and, of course, own.
As a driver's car BMW really does seem to have cracked the
amalgamation of all the hybrid parts so it's also good to see that the i8 comes
very well equipped as standard and you don't really have to dip too far into
the extensive options list if you don't want to. Standard fixtures and fittings
include air conditioning, DAB radio, Bluetooth and front and rear PDC plus such
niceties as Professional navigation, Head-Up display, 20-inch alloy wheels and
Variable Damper Control.
