BMW i8 review, test drive

The BMW i8 looks fantastic and its 357bhp hybrid powertrain sounds very impressive on paper. But what kind of a driver-experience does it offer?

Published on May 01, 2014 01:30:00 PM

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BMW i8 production version.

Its steering is light but there's a modicum of well-judged feedback, and performance is entirely decent in electric mode. Electric-only range is a bit low, in reality about 24km. But the BMW seldom operates like a range-extended EV unless you explicitly instruct it to anyway, its combustion engine regularly chiming in through most drive modes, even when the battery is relatively well charged.

Knock the gear selector into ‘Sport’ mode and the engine begins to run almost continually. Gun the accelerator away from a standstill and the powertrain feels like a big V6: instant and heavy-hitting on pedal response, but with a loud, gruff, synthesized soundtrack broadcast to you over the audio speakers.

Yet the harder it revs and the faster you go, the smaller that imaginary V6 seems. Work it really hard beyond 5000rpm and the i8’s performance level feels a touch thin and strained.

The car’s handling stands up more stoutly to inspection – but not indefinitely. Body control is excellent; steering response equally immediate. Lateral grip levels could be higher, particularly at the front wheels, which begin to scrabble and scream under load if you harry them.

Drive intelligently though, using weight transfer to give the steering authority on turn-in, and the i8 responds for the most part like any good mid-engined machine should: with some balance and alacrity, but exceptional in neither.

The rear axle is always glued to its line, giving dependable stability. It declines any attempt to adjust your arc through a corner with a bit of throttle-steering. That's a typical facet of a car that just doesn’t respond well to being driven hard, and one that approaches its adhesive limits a bit early for our tastes.

The i8 can be enjoyed vividly enough as you approach that point, of course. But not ultimately as vividly as a sports car at this price point really ought.

If you genuinely don’t mind compromising on sporting clarity of purpose for lower emissions, enhanced economy and of-the-moment desirability, then you should definitely opt for the BMW i8. But if that’s you, the sports car market would seem to be a strange place to go shopping for your next car anyway.

The BMW i8 doesn’t quite feel as exciting as it does fast; it’s secure and fluent, but not the last word in fun. Accounting for its novelty value, brimming supercar attitude and its low-emissions sense of environmental responsibility, it’ll be more than sporting enough to satisfy people who couldn’t otherwise have justified a sports car.

But it’s not quite convincing enough to hit the heights that true enthusiasts will expect of it. There is all the intriguing complexity in the world to contemplate here, but sadly not quite enough depth.