BMW i8 long-term test review: the Autocar team's thoughts

Nightingale is more enamoured with how it drives: “Let’s not pretend the i8 is blessed with quite the handling verve of a Porsche 911, but given what else it brings to the party, it’s nothing short of phenomenal.”

Saunders builds on these comments: “It’s actually at its best as an everyday-use GT car: big on response and accessible overtaking thrust, not interested in getting much beyond 100mph, and refined and economical when you want it to be, with all the ‘faszinating’ fun of electric running on your way to top up the kids’ cool points as you pick them up from school. I think it’s knowing the unexpected truth about the i8 that makes it such an appealing thing to own: that you could use it like a Nissan GT-R or a 911 Turbo, and that it’s so much easier to live with than it looks.”

The 911 point is an interesting one, because one of the things that makes the Porsche so usable is its pair of small rear seats. The i8 has those, too. Rachel Burgess made the best use of them: “The i8 isn’t practical, they said. Never willing to take someone’s word for it, I ventured home to take my toddler niece for a ride. Admittedly, it was a workout getting her in and out, and her little legs were up the seatback, but she was more than happy. That said, only a fourfooter would have worked as a front passenger after accommodating the baby seat.”

A major theme running through colleagues’ comments is just how much there is to discover about the car. Matt Burt puts it nicely: “Marketeers bang on about ‘surprise and delight’, that child-like feeling of joy you get when you discover something new and satisfying about a recently purchased product, be it a four-bedroomed house or a pot of natural yoghurt.

“In that respect, the i8 is the gift that keeps on giving, and not just for those of us fortunate enough to get behind the wheel. Driving through south-west London, responding to gawks and looks with a knowing grin, I felt like a cutting-edge tech wizard cum superhero – the Cornish Tony Stark, perhaps.”

Another theme is how much fun it is to drive in fully electric mode. Holder says: “Sometimes, usually when pottering around town silently, you feel like you’ve arrived from another planet.”

There’s a caveat to that, though, as Saunders explains: “It’s what makes the i8 easy to use and good as an EV that also makes it less than brilliant as a driver’s car: the overly light steering, the skinny front tyres and the effect they have on handling balance, the lack of some balls-tobones authentic engine noise rather than all that speaker-borne stuff, and so on.

“But I don’t mind, actually. To me, the appeal of the powertrain, combined with a chassis that does just about enough, gives the car plenty of dynamic allure.”