Sports Car of the Future
The i8's styling is meant to reflect its sports-car intentions, with low-slung coupe design and doors that flip open butterfly-style. The i8's styling was heavily inspired by BMW's earlier EfficientDynamics concept. The doors and roof are totally transparent, a styling choice which looks fantastic and futuristic but is unlikely to reach production. The swooping roofline and aggressive front fascia seem much more likely to show up in your local BMW dealership.
The i8's styling is meant to reflect its sports-car intentions, with low-slung coupe design and doors that flip open butterfly-style. The i8's styling was heavily inspired by BMW's earlier EfficientDynamics concept. The doors and roof are totally transparent, a styling choice which looks fantastic and futuristic but is unlikely to reach production. The swooping roofline and aggressive front fascia seem much more likely to show up in your local BMW dealership.
The i8 wears BMW's trademark kidney grilles at the front, as well as LED headlights and a black plastic V-shaped element on the hood. The nose looks remarkably like that of the old BMW M1 or 8 Series, with the headlights and grille taking on a rectangular, pouty look. At the rear, silver plastic panels meet to form the "Stream Flow" line on the C-pillar, while a small diffuser cleans up air from beneath the car.
At 182.4 inches long and 77.0 inches wide, the i8 casts the same size shadow as a BMW M3 coupe. Yet at 50.4 inches tall, the i8 is only two inches taller than a Ferrari 458 Italia. The aluminum wheels measure 19 inches in diameter and will probably wear tires between 225 and 250 millimeters wide. Narrow wheels were chosen because they produce less drag and rolling resistance, and don't intrude as far into the cabin as the wider wheels used on normal sports cars.
Like the i3 electric car, the i8 is built using BMW's new modular LifeDrive chassis architecture. In the case of the i8, two Drive modules -- housing the gasoline engine and electric motor, respectively -- sandwich the Life passenger compartment. The Life section is decorated in a mix of clear glass and black plastics, while the Drive sections are painted silver.The Life compartment is made from carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), which is said to be as strong as steel but 50 percent lighter. The Drive units are built from aluminum, which BMW says is about 30 percent lighter than steel. On top of those units, traditional plastic is used for the actual body panels. The i8 weighs just 3256 pounds, and because the two drive units are at opposite ends of the vehicle, the i8 has a perfect 50:50 weight balance.
The even weight distribution and multi-link suspension design should conspire to make the i8 handle as well as BMW claims. The front suspension even has special geometry designed to reduce torque steer from the electric motor. The front brake calipers will likely be made from aluminum to cut weight, as regenerative braking and low weight reduce the need for enormous friction brakes. Even though its tires will be relatively narrow for a sports car, BMW engineers assure us the i8 will have "enough" grip for sporty cornering and braking.
To help keep aerodynamic drag as low as possible, the bottom of the i8 is completely flat. Special cut-outs called AirCurtains in the front fascia direct air around the front wheels to reduce turbulence, while the rear decklid and blue rear diffuser are designed to further improve aerodynamic efficiency. Air flows through the Stream Flow channel and under the "floating" taillights, which apparently helps aerodynamics. BMW wouldn't talk about a specific drag coefficient for the i8, but said the number would be "record breaking."
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