BMW i8 with 500 hp: 2016
- 01/10/2015
Sports car for the hundredth
For its 100th anniversary in 2016 BMW will knock you out! On the basis of the electric runabout i8 created an eco-rocket in small batches - for over 250,000 euros.
BMW celebrates its 100th anniversary on March 7, 2016. And the gift is called M 100. That is the abbreviation of the century development project. Forward an M because originally the M GmbH should manage the project. Behind the 100 - you know. Roughly speaking, the M 100 is a BMW i8 special "super fast". CEO Norbert Reithofer wants to put in the car to mark the centenary of the company, and his employer an emotional and sustainable monument.
Admittedly, it carries the AG responsible for the project, and Mr. Reithofer is watching the party from the tip of the Supervisory Board of. But the M 100, the product planners want to hold, as the new coupe will connect brand-typical motorsport genes with the DNA of Project i. Piquancy on the edge: M 100 is produced and directed by Roberto Fedeli, who came recently from Ferrari.
The carbon fiber chassis is adopted by this new economical athletes in principle from the electric racer i8, but stylistically it has been thoroughly revised. The new model is measurably more dynamic and more agile in character. Therefore, suspension and kinematics are either redesigned or tailored aggressive, springs and dampers are designed to be much tighter, which improve much wider tire grip and traction, the correspondingly larger brakes are more spontaneous and with more bite. At the same time, the aerodynamics is optimized. It's not just about the thermal efficiency of the gasoline engine, Electric Motor and brake system, but also more downforce at high speeds. The stabilizing "ground effect" (suction) arises partly from the air guide elements interplay between flow and underflow. The nearly 1,600-pound sport version is even stronger than the by no means weak i8 with 362 hp. The electric motor at the front axle will instead of 108 now deliver 204hp. At the rear, BMW is planning an upgrade from the 231-hp turbocharged three-cylinder of the i8 to the two-liter four-cylinder with around 286 hp. If you include the 27 hp, with the integrated starter generator (ISG serves mainly for boosting) involved in the system performance, the anniversary BMW will have in total well over 500 hp. The maximum torque is likely to be at 700 Newton meters.
Strictly limited, with only 100 models are delivered in 2017
While the top speed is probably limited again to 250 km / h to accelerate from 0 to 100 km / h in a very respectable 3.5 seconds - which in the i8 is seven-tenths longer time. For the power transmission is an automatic transmission with eight stages (the i8 has only six) in charge of Aisin transmission specialist. The i8S will debut in March 2016 to compliment said centenary. In September 2017, the first customer cars are to be delivered. Because BMW wants to limit the exclusive small series of only 100 cars, the sports model costs reportedly more than 250,000 euros - around twice the i8. The final model designation is still hotly discussed internally. Since Munich have so far only secured the naming rights from i1 to i8, i9 is currently not an option. The short list are instead i8S and i8CS.
Maybe the new CEO Harald Krüger will parallel to the i8S, reactivate the M8 project that was blocked by his predecessor. If we are to believe the white and blue grapevine, then you could in 2018 or 2019, have a 630-hp top model that is ready for series and which combines an even more powerful electric motor with a twin-turbocharged six-cylinder. Because the straight six is much longer, the M8 architecture should be designed as a pure two-seater.
Georg Kacher
Conclusion
What a cool birthday gift! The BMW i8S combines the sporty charm of the unforgettable M1 with the efficiency of the Project-i-top model. Fans of the white-and-blue mark that sometimes just have 250,000 euros left, can look forward. Because the edition is limited to 100 pieces, BMW should definitely promptly follow up on the more exciting M8.
