Have it for a couple weeks. Just picked it up and only drove about 3 miles. Will drive some more after work. 2016 BMW i8. So far, drives nice. TON of electronics to learn. Didn't mash it but it has some pep to it. Tough to get in an out of. Any questions ask away...

 

Worth the price?

 

This one was $162k or something like that. So far I would say god no. Its tough to get in and out of, not luxury enough nor powerful enough for that price. I would much rather have an S class coupe or something like that. It is very techi, the HUD is cool but to me it is a $80k car.

 

AMG GTS is good value and would be the obvious choice over this

 

Agreed with all. I am not sure why they chose to stuff an inline-3 turbo engine with electric motor assist as the power plant...for an 100K+ car, I don't know if I am really paying for the goodwill of brand or something hidden inside those big doors.

Would rather snag a Tesla P100D for a bit more.

 

I like the Halloween theme.

 

It definitely stands out. lol

 

yeah, first thing I noticed.....to each their own.

 

Have you tried all the drive modes??? I know there are several, your acceleration varies greatly between them, as in its sluggish in eco mode to try and conserve the battery juice. Put it in the right mode and it does 0-60 in 3.8 seconds and runs the quarter mile in 12.3@114mph. About the same as a base model Corvette, which I wouldn't label as slow.

Oh and I hear you on the hard to get in and out of thing. Total PITA. About the only car I've found worse than the i8 was a Lotus Elise, but if you take the top off that car its not too bad to get in and out of.

 

One of my neighbors has one. It's quite the head turner, though he has the silver/blue scheme, and I much prefer the black/orange one here.

It's a technology showpiece that I would love to test drive and love to look at, but would never be interested in owning.

 

Can i borrow it after you are done?

 

Drove it a bit more tonight. In sport mode it is quick. Very quick.

The best thing about this car so far is shifting. Wow. The sound is great. Downshifting is even better. Sound is intoxicating.

Going to charge it it up tonight to fully take advantage of it tomorrow. I'll try to get someone to take a video for the sound. It really is great.

I can honestly say I would never buy this car. Ever. It's fun but no way. Even in comfort mode the ride is rough. On the highway it is much better but rough city roads feel like it is off-road.

 

A buddy of mine has one and we've pushed both his I8 and my M3 hard through some canyon runs. Despite having 75hp less than my M3 and weighing about the same, it has about 20lb-ft more torque than me due to it's electric motor. The 1/4 and 0-60 are almost identical in the M3 and the i8. Due to his much lower center of gravity, he just seem more planted in the turns

...or he was just that much better of a driver than me .

Either way, I had fun keeping up! I can reach 130mph about 3 seconds faster than the i8, so I could catch up on the straights where we could hit triple digits. Having said that, it's a head-turner. Lot of motorists came up to it to take pictures.

Is it worth the $60k premium over my M3? I dunno, but I have 2 extra doors and can sit 5 with a trunk full of groceries if that's worth anything!

Still, it's a great car, and still a first generation. Hopefully a new i8 will push it into supercar territory.

Us, after a morning of runs with my buddy's vintage MR-2:

 

^^ In that picture I'd take the MR-2. I had an '86 many years ago and regret selling it.

 

^ Funny thing is, if that MR2 isn't rusty, it would be the one I'd have as well. I always loved the oragami styling on the 1st gen cars.