We like the BMW i8 for its styling, its efficiency, and its fresh approach to what a sports car can be. If there’s one area where it might be perceived as falling short of the competition, it is in overall output. With 357 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque, it is quick, turning in a 3.8-second 0-to-60 run in our test. But it is hardly the quickest or fastest car you can get for its low-six-figure asking price. BMW is fully aware of the issue, and it is working on a fix. Sources tell us that by 2016, the regular i8 could be complemented by an upgraded version that will feature an even more powerful three-cylinder gasoline engine and an upgraded electric motor.
In the current model, the three-banger makes 228 horsepower, while the electric motor is rated at 129 horsepower. The same electric motor produces 170 horsepower in the i3 city car. Thus optimized, a sportier i8 would make total system output north of 400 horsepower. And we believe that BMW would fit a torque-vectoring system to make the i8 even happier in corners. The current model is designed to exhibit some understeer, a characteristic that BMW believes the cars’ customers—being gadget-happy early-adopter types—will find easier to cope with when they get carried away on Skyline Boulevard in the Bay Area.
Serious sports-car drivers would like to see more agility, and BMW would work that into the uplevel version. The new model would be sold alongside the regular i8. Down the road, there could be even further evolutions. Automobile Magazine has published a report that suggests BMW is working on a hybridized supercar loosely based on the i8 and packing a four- or six-cylinder engine.
Such a car could make more than 500 horsepower. Bring it on, we say.
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