When the i8 came to me with barely more than delivery miles on the clock last spring, I wrote a long list of questions it would need to address before it headed back to BMW.
Nearly a year and 15,000 miles later, the answers are in and could scarcely be clearer.
Some were simple: did having a hybrid drive actually result in better fuel consumption than you might expect in rival products? After 11 months at a true average of more than 40mpg where I expect the class average is below 30mpg, there is no question. The best and worst the i8 achieved both came while others on the Autocar team were using it – one driver coming within a whisker of 50mpg, another achieving 18.3mpg.
Another question was conceptual: could the i8 manage what the original M1 and Z8 had failed to achieve 
and be a BMW that sat comfortably and credibly in what is today the marketplace above £100,000?
 Here, the answer is more mixed. If you look at the depreciation the car has suffered, it’s clear the market remains unconvinced by the idea of
a six-figure hybrid BMW, especially one powered by a three-cylinder Mini engine, however clever its tech and however attractive its carbonfibre and aluminium construction may be.
But if you ask me if it felt like a £100k car, I’d say that with the sole exception of an interior with too
 few special touches and too much scavenged from the generic parts bin, it did, with space to spare. Not once did I feel short-changed by that engine: I loved its noise and don’t understand those who wail about its sound being synthesised. The sound of every mainstream car today has been artificially modified in some form or another and is, therefore, synthesised. The i8 sounds great. Its performance is also good enough, just, to live in the £100k world. On paper, it looks only moderately quick, but bare figures conceal the immediacy of the response brought by the hybrid drive and the complete lack of turbo lag. The way it delivers its torque means that even a gearbox with just six gears seems no more or less than what is required.
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100K cars?
Yes, well, in that rarefied field, some folks might be able to compare their exotic motors but to most other drivers, these are things of fancy, no more!
Why is the current value of that car with 15K miles on it not mentioned? It is alluded to but no data...
Please let us have the complete picture? You never know, some of us might be tempted if the car is that good and becomes affordable!
Fake sound is an automotive crime
Interesting article and interesting car. However, one thing continues to truly amaze me (Peter won't like it, but I'll say it again) -- that Mr. Frankel considers utterly fake engine sound a non-issue. He actually attempts to justify the i8's sound that is faked through the audio speakers by stating that nearly every car's engine sound is "artificially modified in some form or another." WOW. Mr. Frankel, some "forms' merely tune ACTUAL engine sound, while others completely FAKE the sound. Does he really make no distinction between 1) a muffler/silencer that reduces noise THAT THE ENGINE ACTUALLY MAKES, and that may be designed to emphasize "nice" sounds THAT THE ENGINE ACTUALLY MAKES while de-emphasizing less-nice sounds THAT THE ENGINE ACTUALLY MAKES vs. 2) FAKING the "engine sound" by playing a recording of sound the ENGINE IS NOT MAKING through the audio speakers??? To equate them is PREPOSTEROUS. If you don't mind fake engine sound via the audio speakers, to each his own, but to try to justify this automotive fraud by stating that it's no more artificial than a "tuned" intake/exhaust beggars belief.
it only exists because of the tax break
if you can get a company hybrid you will virtualy pay no tax compared with the upstart in a basic Fiesta even though more economical than the I8 or 350e merc etc.it is simplty a treasury balls up and the second hand values will plummet.ie private buyers prefer conventional cars at the present ,hybrids will come along with their excesive weight and shortcomings.long liv ediesel and petrol and hope for some lightweight alternative that is not relying on cobolt and lithium.
REPUGNANT
The i8 has a "deliciously snarling soundtrack, despite some sneering at its synthesized nature." YUCK. Fake engine sound, especically from the self-proclaimed maker of Ultimate Driving Machines that has "Motoren" as its middle name, is REPUGNANT. Might as well sit on the couch and play recordings of engines. That BMW did this first on its M cars -- intended (supposedly) for enthusiasts -- is shameful. I've had BMWs and enjoyed them, but they've killed my interest in the brand/marque completely. I'll NEVER buy a car that fakes its engine sound. Clearly, their priorities regarding what makes a great car no longer match mine.
Speedraser wrote:
Stop being so over the top, so sound is natural,we've had tweaked exhaust for yonks,what comes out the tailpipe isn't the sound the engine makes,it's created too!, plus, it's your choice what you buy that's true,but, being so angry so over stated about it wasn't totally needed, I might not like I either,but it isn't a deal changer to me.
Peter Cavellini wrote:
Sorry Peter, I have to disagree to a certain extent, yes exhaushts are manipulated/tuned to make the sound they make, but it is real, these sounds pumped into the cabin via the speakers are not real, they are synthesised, its the difference between listening to live music or an iPod, some may prefer the perfect sound produced by an electronic device, but is it really the sound the musician intended? I, as do many others prefer live music. If I want fake electronic music I will go to Ibiza...