Sport Auto Germany takes BMW’s first hybrid sportscar to the race track and the results are impressive. The new BMW i8 recorded a 1:15 minutes lap time at the famous Hockenheim race track.
While the i8 was not built for the track and it is often advertised as the “green sportscar” of the future, the innovative car keeps up with the likes of Porsche Boxter (1:14.9), Jaguar F-Type (1:15.2) and the BMW M135i (1:15.7). Also tested in the current issue of the magazine was the BMW 435i Coupe with M Sport Package and M performance tuning, which recorded a Hockenheim lap time of 1: 17.4 minutes. By comparison, the new BMW M4 Coupe showed a lap time of 1:12.8 minutes.
Editor Christian Gebhardt confirms what BMW has been officially saying about the: It is a car with impressive performance, but it is not made for racing. We’ve also had the chance to track the beautiful BMW i8 back in 2013 when it was just a pre-production car.
BMW i8 uses a plug-in hybrid system consisting of a turbocharged three-cylinder BMW TwinPower Turbo petrol engine and BMW eDrive technology in the form of an electric drive system. The 1.5-liter combustion engine develops 170 kW/231 hp and drives the rear wheels of the BMW i8, while the 96 kW/131 hp electric drive sends its power to the front wheels and allows an all-electric range of up to 35 kilometers (22 miles) and a top speed of 120 km/h (75 mph).
[Source: Bimmertoday]
