BMW i8: a quick glimpse into the future

I was fortunate enough to get a test drive of the BMW i8 but I'll say right off the bat it was not anywhere near long or in conditions varied enough for me  to offer a complete opinion so I won't pretend to offer a review.   But I did get enough seat time for some initial impressions.

Earlier in the week, on the Axis Facebook page,  I had asked what readers were most interested in knowing about the new hybrid  BMW.   Most replied they were curious about sound and brake pedal feel.  Clearly our readers are as mental as we are but I can reassure them, the i8 brakes and makes noises!

But more on that later.

The first impression of the car is that it manages to be look concept car futuristic yet, somehow, perfectly plausible on the road.  Not Lambo crazy but people did stop and snap pictures.
Naturally, dropping  through the exposed carbon fiber that frames the gull wing doors gives a sense of occasion but once inside, you find the familiar layout of a BMW and are immediately at ease.

Driving position is very good, the interior wraps around you but you don't get a feeling of a small tight car.  Visibility is very good, controls where you expect them to be.

Press the start-stop button and  all you hear are some sci-fi electronic sounds.  Slip it into drive with the familiar BMW shifter and off you go in almost total silence.

Now, that may or may not appeal to you but there is no denying it's a pretty cool experience.

When you set off, the i8 behaves exactly like any auto transmission car:  ease off the brake and it starts rolling,  it's no golf cart.   When you're done being green, a push of the gear lever to the left into sport mode changes the dash from blue to red and snaps the little turbo 3 pot to life.

So,  how does it sound?   It sounds pretty cool.  There is a lot of spitting and popping and turbo snap on the off throttle and on shifts,  Sounds something like a slightly more polite Alfa Romeo 4c engine.

It's augmented you say?  OK,  so what,  you probably changed the exhaust to augment the sound of your car, I know I did.   It is just not an issue in real life.  It's not like you feel the sound is coming from the speakers, the source is from behind of your head, pretty much where you would expect it to be.

Does it go?  yeah, this is not a Prius,  it feels about like an M3 in pick up.   Dynamically I can't say much because of the nature of the test I got but in a straight line? Oh yeah, it's got a very satisfying push.    Geashifts are very quick both up and down.
You CAN disable DSC fully but I had no possibility to try any hooligan moves and can't confirm or deny the i8's  power slide credentials.

Steering is light but not as light as in the latest 3 series sedans.

No, in real life it doesn'tt really look like it ate a 911

The ride is calm in regular mode but stiffer than I imagined it would be in sport mode.   I was surprised you cannot choose, say, sport mode with a soft suspension setting but I may have lost that in translation with my BMW France hosts.

Brakes feel 95% like normal BMW brakes, they are a little more grabby than you might expect in the very first part of the travel but then felt just like on an M car.  An odd little wobble after initial application is the only clue something different is happening underfoot, with regeneration and all but I assure you, it's very subtle.

The best party trick the i8 pulls off is in how perfectly seamless the drivetrain is,  There are no jumps, no shudders when the car changes from one mode to the next, even between full electric to full IC.  The brakes and the throttle feel the same in full electric more as they do in all out sports mode.   That must have been incredibly difficult to achieve.

On a practical note, it has a trunk somewhere between a 911 and an Exige, but BMW teamed up with Louis Vuitton for a custom fitted set of luggage to fit in the rear "monkey seats".

So who would want this car?  That's a very interesting question.  For about the same price you could order a Carrera S with all the available performance options, including the $17k power kit.  Or a no option GT3.  Or a Vantage S. Or a Maserati Gran Turismo.
The i8 might be a better GT car than any of those, I'd love to try it on a long trip one day.  Cruise in near silence and then light it up when you feel the need.  Neat trick.

Even if the milage the i8 returns is spectacular, nobody will buy it to save on gas,  they will buy it for the idea of it, to be different and to be first on a road that, eventually, we will all have to travel.
With the i8, BMW has shown that it does not have to be a dull boring road at all.

Sport Turismo

 As an MCoupe owner I must say, this is the way the Porsche Panamera should have looked from the start!

Toyota TS030 test session and onboard video

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First tests for the Toyota TS030 hybrid LeMans racer at Circuit Paul Ricard.
What's certainly striking is the car sounding like a electric go-kart from hell while in pit lane.
I'm not sure what the point of all that is but certainly Toyota Motorsport's experience with the Nürburgring record holder Alpha1/EV P001 must have come in handy.


More videos after the jump

Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid Concept

(photos: autoblog.it)
1450KG/3200 lbs... compare and contrast.


PRESS RELEASE: Porsche Reveals High-Performance 918 Spyder Concept

Today, on the eve of the Geneva Motor Show, Porsche unveiled an ultra-efficient, low-emission, mid-engine super sports car featuring hybrid and electric drive technology.

The 918 Spyder concept combines high-tech racing features with electric-mobility to offer a fascinating range of qualities. For example, it is planned to provide an emission level of just 70 grams of CO2 per kilometer on fuel consumption of only three liters/100 kilometers (equal to approximately 78 mpg U.S.), which is truly outstanding, even for an ultra-compact city car. This car, however, is intended to offer the performance of a super sports car with acceleration from a standstill to 100 km/h in just under 3.2 seconds, top speed of 320 km/h (198 mph), and a lap time on the Nordschleife of N�rburgring in less than 7:30 minutes, faster than even the Porsche Carrera GT.

The 918 Spyder is one of three Porsche models with hybrid drive making their world debut at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. This trio, made up of Porsche's new Cayenne S Hybrid SUV with parallel full-hybrid drive, the 911 GT3 R Hybrid race car with electric drive on the front axle and a flywheel mass battery, and the two-seater high-performance 918 Spyder mid-engined sports car with plug-in hybrid technology, clearly demonstrates not only the great bandwidth of this new drive technology, but also the innovative power of Porsche as a genuine pioneer in hybrid drive.

The highly-innovative 918 Spyder concept car combines Porsche's Intelligent Performance philosophy with the high-technology from motorsport, with classic but modern design to make a truly convincing statement.

Innovative powertrain combines race-bred V8 engine with electric drive

This open two-seater is powered by a high-revving V8 developing more than 500 horsepower and a maximum engine speed of 9,200 rpm, as well as electric motors on the front and rear axle with overall mechanical output of 218 horsepower (160 kW).

The V8 combustion engine is the next step in the evolution of the highly successful 3.4-liter power unit already featured in the RS Spyder racing car and positioned mid-ship, in front of the rear axle, giving the car excellent balance and the right set-up for supreme performance on the race track.

Power is transmitted to the wheels by a seven-speed Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) transmission that feeds the power of the electric drive system to the rear axle. The front-wheel electric drive powers the wheels through a fixed transmission ratio.

The energy reservoir is a fluid-cooled lithium-ion battery positioned behind the passenger cell. The big advantage of a plug-in hybrid is that the battery can be charged on the regular electrical network. A further point is that the car's kinetic energy is converted into electrical energy fed into the battery when applying the brakes, thus providing additional energy for fast and dynamic acceleration.

Driver's choice of four distinct driving modes

A button on the steering wheel allows the driver to choose among four different running modes: The E-Drive mode is for running the car under electric power alone, with a range of up to 25 km or 16 miles. In the Hybrid mode, the 918 Spyder uses both the electric motors and the combustion engine as a function of driving conditions and requirements, offering a range from particularly fuel-efficient all the way to extra-powerful.

The Sport Hybrid mode uses both drive systems, but with the focus on performance. Most of the drive power goes to the rear wheels, with Torque Vectoring serving to additionally improve the car's driving dynamics.

In the Race Hybrid mode the drive systems are focused on pure performance with the highest standard of driving dynamics on the track, running at the limit to their power and dynamic output. With the battery sufficiently charged, a push-to-pass button feeds in additional electrical power (E-Boost), when overtaking or for even better performance.

With the hybrid drive system offering this wide range of individual modes and applications, the 918 Spyder is able either to achieve lap times comparable to those of a thoroughbred racing car, or the extremely low emissions and high fuel economy figures of a plug-in hybrid.

Advanced body structure and design offer more than just good looks

Like the drivetrain, the lightweight body structure of the Porsche 918 Spyder also bears out the car's DNA carried over directly from motorsport: The modular structure with its monocoque bodyshell made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFP) and liberal use of magnesium and aluminum not only reduce weight to below 1,490 kg, or 3,285 lb, but also ensure supreme driving precision thanks to a high level of torsional stiffness.

Reminiscent of highly successful, legendary racing cars such as the Porsche 917 and the current Porsche RS Spyder, the 918 Spyder, with its design concept so typical of Porsche arouses powerful emotions. The combination of racing car dimensions, clearly structured design with perfectly balanced surfaces, and innovative details throughout, creates an ideal synthesis of form and function, following Porsche's design DNA.

The smooth balance of tradition and progress gives the car a powerful stance on the road. Variable aerodynamics, typical of Porsche, ensures both visionary and traditional highlights especially around the rear spoiler. The striking rear hoods extending out of the headrests, in turn, not only fulfill an aerodynamic function on the 918 Spyder, but also accommodate retractable air intakes with a ram air function.

High-tech interior provides glimpse into the future

The driver and passenger are not only embedded in contoured sports bucket seats but also form part of the cockpit, which provides a synthesis of efficient functionality and ergonomic high-tech operation. Additionally, the cockpit offers a glimpse at the potential interior architecture of future Porsche super sports cars. The three free-standing circular dials for road speed (left), engine speed (middle) and energy management (right) would appear to come directly from a racing car in the '60s, bearing out that unique philosophy of driver orientation so characteristic of Porsche.

The center console rises up towards the front in the 918 Spyder and houses a touch screen for intuitive control of the car's functions, serving to reduce the number of visible controls and maintain the principle of direct operation.

The control units relevant to the driver are mainly concentrated on the three-spoke multifunction sports steering wheel, while the variable driving modes are supplemented by a switch enabling the driver to call up various drive programs and serving as the push-to-pass button for E-boosting. Instrument illumination, finally, varies from green for the consumption-oriented running modes to red for the performance-oriented driving programs.

The Porsche 918 Spyder concept also comes with further innovative functions such as the Range Manager. After being activated in the Center Display, the Range Manager uses the map in the navigation system to present the remaining range the car is able to cover, naturally allowing the driver to influence that range through the appropriate choice of power and performance.

In cities with environmental alert areas the Range Manager also states whether the driver is able to reach a certain destination on electric power alone.

Applying this information and using further info on the availability and location of special energy filling stations, the driver is then able to choose his personal style of driving as well as the right battery charge and filling strategy.

Offering a unique combination of extremely low fuel consumption, supreme performance and long electric range, the Porsche 918 Spyder concept represents an essential milestone in Porsche's strategy on the way to genuine electric-mobility.

In cities with environmental alert areas the Range Manager also states whether the driver is able to reach a certain destination on electric power alone.

Applying this information and using further info on the availability and location of special energy filling stations, the driver is then able to choose his personal style of driving as well as the right battery charge and filling strategy.

Offering a unique combination of extremely low fuel consumption, supreme performance and long electric range, the Porsche 918 Spyder concept represents an essential milestone in Porsche's strategy on the way to genuine electric-mobility.

Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid: shown at Geneva, Raced at the 'Ring

Porsche will show a hybrid 997 gt3 R at the Geneva auto show and enter it in the Nurburgring 24 hour this spring. The car, based on the RSR chassis, will reportedly use a flywheel inertia type KERS rather than a battery system. Most bizarre is the resulting extra 80hp will be used to drive, via two electric motors, the front wheels!

This hybrid system could lead to a return of an official Porsche factory team (as opposed to factory sponsored teams?) to Le Mans in the near future.

Ferrari had recently announced a 599 hybrid prototype will be in Geneva.




(Porsche)


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Go Green Fast: BMW changes the game.

We've said before that the move towards greener cars could represent a great opportunity for enthusiasts because the only logical solution to performance and efficiency would be found in weight savings. Let's discuss whether 3050 lbs constitutes lightweight another time, what BMW has come up with is the first exciting hybrid in history.

Forget Tesla's Elise copy and Fisker's Joker mouthed car, visually this concept from BMW manages to both pay homage to some classic concept cars of the past while simultaneously looking like it would not be out of place in Daniel Simon's Cosmic Motors. Of course it remains to be seen if BMW can deliver on the car's ample promises but, as a concept, the "gamechanger" adjective seems to me is more appropriate for this car than to any plug in only utility vehicle.




BMW's decision to drop out of F1 becomes more clear now. F1 has moved away from KERS for 2010 and this concept has obviously been in the works for a long time. BMW had been frustrated once before when the series moved to v8's right when BMW was launching their "formula 1 inspired" V10 engines.

So we celebrate this exciting new car, I'm ready to go green....fast!

( you can read all about the concept car's specs on just about any auto web site...let me suggest THIS ONE)




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