The i8 is BMW’s way of defining the sportscar of the future. And why not? This is a car that started its life as the Vision Efficient Dynamics Concept back in 2009. The concept came with two electric motors and a turbo diesel engine which was later swapped with a 1.5 litre turbo petrol motor in the i8 Concept that was revealed in 2011. The production version designed by Benoit Jacob was finally unveiled at the German International Motor Show in 2013. It is the second model in BMW’s i product range after the i3 hatchback.  The i8 was launched India earlier in February this year and we managed to get our hands on one.

Waking up early on a Sunday morning is not easy but that is not the case with us car guys. Lure us with the prospect of driving a nice car and we probably wont sleep the previous night. Driving the BMW flagship with the added satisfaction of doing my bit for the saving the planet and the environment (halo on my head right now) made for the perfect weekend.

The car for this review is finished in a shade of Crystal White Pearl Effect with i Blue accents. The i8 in one word, is stunning to look at in the flesh. Credit for this goes to BMW for making the production car look so close to the original concept. If the famous Back to the Future series of movies were remade, the i8 would be the perfect car to take the place of the iconic Delorean DMC. I’m sure Michael. J. Fox would nod in agreement. The bonnet is low slung and the traditional BMW kidney grille is wide and slim. It comes with blue borders and does not have slats like regular BMW models. The LED headlamps come with integrated DRLs and turn indicators and you can also order the laser headlights as an option. The floating C pillars seem to have come right out of a spacecraft and while they look cosmetic, they are part of the car’s aerodynamics. The rear does appear a bit bulky as compared to the front end. The LED tail lights look really swanky and the blue inserts in the rear bumper add a certain oomph factor.  The prominent eDrive badge reminds you why this car is special. The construction of the i8 comprises of BMW’s LifeDrive architecture that comprises of two parts; the aluminium body and the passenger compartment that is made up of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CRPF). This makes the tub 30 percent lighter than if it would have been made of aluminium. Look closely and you can see exposed carbon fibre on the door frames of the passenger cell. It has rough edges too. The car tips the scales at 1,485 kg.   BMW offers the i8 with three 20 inch alloy wheels options. This car came with the BMW i light alloys W spoke design with 215/45 R20 tyres at the front and 245/40 R20 tyres at the rear. Yes the tyres on the i8 are not as wide as you generally expect in a high end sportscar.

The i8 comes with butterfly doors which are easy to operate. They don’t feel heavy thanks to the gas struts that support them. Getting into or out of the i8 is not an easy task. The door sill is long and high and you have to put your leg inside and gradually slip into the seat. The interior of the i8 is as futuristic as the exterior. But once you settle down and look around, it seems familiar to other BMWs. The blue theme is carried over to the cabin as well.  The multifunction steering wheel looks good and comes with paddle shifters mounted behind. Steering has manual adjust surprisingly. The centre console is tilted towards the driver, a nice touch. The central tunnel is high reason being the Lithium-ion batteries that reside underneath.  There is a single AC vent in the centre while co passenger gets two vents on the left hand side. There is an 8.8 inch tab style screen on the dash that displays the info from the iDrive system with additional features unique to the ‘i’ cars. The instrument cluster is an LCD display which shows the speedometer and a power meter. The power meter changes to a tachometer when in Sport mode.  The fuel and battery gauges are also located on the display panel. The battery gauge shows the range it be driven in full electric mode or as BMW calls it, eDrive.

The front seats hug you into place, are very supportive and can be adjusted electrically and travel range is good as well. The i8 gets a couple of rear seats as well but they are good for little kids at best. You would rather use them to store extra luggage, something that you will need because the boot is small at 154 litres and will hardly swallow anything. The blue seats belts look uber cool. Other features include automatic climate control, audio with Bluetooth and USB connectivity, parking sensors with rear view camera and you can opt for HUD as well. Coming to the safety features, the i8 gets front and side airbags for driver and front passenger, head airbags for all four seats, ABS, Dynamic Stability Control including Dynamic Traction Control, three point seat belts including belt stopper, pyrotechnic belt tensioners and belt force limiters and ISOFIX child seat mounting.

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