A Glimpse of the Future
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| Before the Unveil |
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| Before the Unveil |
BMW has been with us for the many decades with an incredible line of achievements and stories. From aero plane propellers to providing the monstrous engine to the McLaren F1 and now heading into the future of hybrid technology with the brand new BMW i8 which in today’s era is a very intriguing topic today for us petrolheads.
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| During the Unveiling Night with the Supercars |
It is intoxicating to see a very futuristic hybrid sports
car being featured and coming to life especially after seeing its concept being
featured in Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol film and it has obviously
drew a lot of attention. Ever since I
got the news that the i8 is going to be unveiled to the public in my hometown I
have waiting for months for the car’s arrival at my local BMW showroom and
finally on June 11th I got a call from BMW that it is finally here. At that
period I was having my finals but I decided to take a break and take a look at
this futuristic hybrid. Sadly that day, I only spent about 15 minutes with my friend,
Eric, to witness the i8 because it was really dirty from the shipping and it
was going to be put away for the Saturday unveiling night which I wasn’t able
to attend.
Fortunately that night, Eric was able to and he has kindly
shared his pictures of the night event of the unveiling as well as the attendance
of the Supercar Club.
Some quick facts and numbers: 231 horsepower from a considerably and surprisingly small
1.5 liter turbocharged 3-in-line engine, 131 horsepower from the electric motor
combined to produce a total 362 horsepower under a six speed automatic
Steptronic Automatic transmission.
After the exams on Monday 15th June, I managed to return to
the showroom to have a more in depth view of the BMW i8.
First impressions, I think this car looks incredibly good.
It’s not just the about the futuristic design but it doesn’t feel too plain nor
too excess of that sporty-racy feel, it’s just exquisite and the amazing thing
is the design still makes it feel like a BMW despite several new features like
the swan-wing doors, the sharp shark-nose grill, the new angel-eyed headlights,
the unique chassis design and more of carbon fiber.
Swan-wing doors as any uplifting doors aren’t the easiest
things in the world to get in or out of the car especially for very clumsy
people with big buttocks like me. Inside the i8, it is all typical BMW, neat
and well-organized but personally I wish of the interior was to have more exotic
materials carbon fiber. The back seats you can consider them to be very unnecessary
unless you have both legless and armless passengers to access them. In
addition, the i8 would not be the best of shopping carts, over 150 liters of
boot space; just several small bags will make do.
What BMW has done here yet again is another bold move and a
rather brilliant one. To be frank, a Toyota Prius is fair enough I have always
been skeptical about hybrid technology for sportscars/supercars. I am still one
of those dinosaurs with the ideas of the bigger the engine and more the
cylinders the better, I think at one point it is still something we petolheads
are still obsessed with and I will still standby that but looking at the i8 it
is like a message – “Move On!”.
I am not so sure about the other speed titan hybrids like
the McLaren P1, the Porsche 918 Spyder and the Ferrari LaFerrari since I have
only seen them through my screens and but the i8 has a league of its own and it
has convincingly shown us an optimistic future where petrol as we all know is
hitting its high scarcity point and it is here to prove that the hunger of
speed isn’t over yet. I can understand it does not have the insanity and maybe loudness
from V8s, V12s and other thirsty engines but yet again it is time to move on
since we still are chasing the obsession of speed. Since I haven’t got the
opportunity to test drive it I think I’ll stop here.
I think one of the biggest issues with this car is its hefty
RM1.18 million price tag. The BMW i8 sure isn’t built to be your everyday car
and there are many other cars in the market you can spend for less or more for
a “better value” with more power, practicality and perhaps performance. But if
you have extra money lying to afford one sure why not? With a futuristic design
this fantastic which draws hundreds to thousands pairs of eyes, with
performances which I have heard were positive from those who have driven it and
a symbol of the future of speed, personally, even I think it’s worth it
provided yet again you afford buying and maintaining the car which is the next
question. This is more of a car you drive on your weekends and have fun. It’s
definitely an eye-opener and a lot of potential the BMW i8 possesses.
Special thanks to BMW Regas Premium Auto for making all this possible
and Eric Sim for the photos.
