2020 BMW i8 Roadster - One Take

The 2020 BMW i8 Roadster is a plug in hybrid sports/city car with a 30-mile EV range, a three-cylinder turbo gas engine, and a carbon tub that was absolutely revolutionary.... in 2012. Sold for 5 years as a coupe only, it's new for this year as a retractable soft-top roadster.

BMW provided the vehicle, insurance, and a tank of fuel for this review.

[azy]

I had this car in coupe form. Best car I ever had and I miss it. I had an M6 and the others but this car made me change my mindset. Btw unused to hate this car until I fell for it and owned it!

[PatsGarageOnline]

Great review! I daily drive an i8 and have some additional info to share. If you press the eDrive button, it will not allow the gas engine to kick in, and maxes out at 72MPH (unless you push the accelerator past the detent, next to the firewall). eDrive is the only mode that uses the 2 speed electric transmission. Comfort, EcoPro and Sport require the front transmission to be in 2nd gear all the time, due to synchronization issues with the rear engine (you don't want to have the engine pushing while the electric transmission is shifting, because it's not that bulletproof). I drive in eDrive to work every day and Sport on the way home, which also recharges the battery, and get 50MPG average just commuting, daily. The exhaust notes you hear are mainly from the engine, the augmentation only adds to that and fills in the gap to make it sound like a 6 cylinder. See my video where I put a GoPro in the boot of my coupe, put a glass cover over the engine and film the engine and noise where there is no augmentation speaker in Sport Mode, and it sounds really good. It seems that the augmented digital sound was piped in to replicate what would be heard in the boot, if you were sitting there. The tires are not good, stock. Upgrading to 245 front and 275 rear reduce under-steer and it seems the car was actually made for these size tires, but smaller ones were used for gas savings. The door is too small to roll the window down all the way, so a bigger door would be required. As a Vette guy since '93, I miss an analog feeling, and raw feeling from a powerful engine. The i8 doesn't fill my passion for true performance and I don't "love" it but it feels special enough to keep and enjoy. I bought it used in Feb 2019 after saving up for 10 years (after the financial crisis laid me off and I sold my Vette) for a new C7, but decided to try a used 2015 i8 instead. Thankfully, the i8 comes to end of life after 2020 and there may be a replacement. Rumors are that a 4cyl turbo engine will appear mid-engine along with a more powerful electric boost. We'll see.

[joshualee]

"You'll notice there's no houses on this road... cause they all burned down."
- Matt Farah 2019

[chucknorris]

This guy lied, 1. You can drive in full electric or full gas, or use a combination. The electric charges super fast when you drive in full gas. So fast you never have to plug it in to get a charge. 2. Its because of this sports car from BMW that all other super sports cars are copying it because it does something beyond a normal hybrid. The fun it brings in style, speed, and giving the power to the driver of how they want to drive in full gas, electric or both at a push of a button. Other cars that have a regular hybrid everyone else is so familiar with no option and your forced with the combination and forced to plug it in to get a charge. And out of all sports cars I've driven and friends this one handles bumps way better than other sports cars. 3. The window thing at the end needs to change but it's really no big deal. 4. The interior feels like your in a cockpit of a jet and is awesome. 5. No one reviews this car at night but the interior lights up at night like a TRON movie. You can change the color of the TRON lights to Orange, Blue, or White. The outside looks awesome and grabs alot of attention everywhere you go, but if they only knew how the interior looks just as awesome at night. Hands down if you want one of these get the Orange Copper E outside & in it's the best looking one.

[danielhammond]

Just stumbling across this channel and I have to say it's awesome!! Glad to be apart of this and looking forward to future videos. Gotta go through all the old videos now. Lol

[gabrielflores]

How does this feel after driving the Corvette?

Farrah: Slow.

[masonhill]

I've always wondered, why wouldn't they put one of their sweet turbo straight sixes or even a turbo four in this?

[bassoonistfromhell]

i had a dream last night that Matt Farah started a fast casual restaurant and I was at the grand opening

[willthayden]

Matt, using the pure eDrive mode shifts the electric motor into first gear and prevents the gas engine from kicking in until ~70mph. This improves the acceleration quite a bit in electric mode and is the only way I drive this car in electric due to this. This also takes away the constant jolting of the gasoline engine cutting in and out. Basically, since I like cars and like to be in control of my own driving, I only drive my i8 in sport and pure eDrive. This takes away all the unrefined nature of the drivetrain and only plays to the car’s strengths, making it a much better drive in my opinion. Also, if you pull the paddle in regular drive (comfort) mode, you can start the gasoline engine at will so you can do that before you take off from a light so you have plenty of acceleration and don’t have to wait 0.5 seconds for it to kick in and also you save yourself that jolt. After you get to cruising speed, it’ll transition to full electric. I’m a car enthusiast and typically like back to basics, manual transmission sports cars. That being said, I really enjoy this car and when you figure out the strengths and weaknesses of the powertrain and how to mitigate those and drive around the limitations, this is a phenomenal car. Count me as one of the owners of these things that absolutely loves it.

[josephregan]

When you ring it out it sounds like my 01 civic with the cat rotted out

[inbloom]

Futuristic, daring design which I love. BS powertrain and overpriced AF.

How cool would a m2 or m3 engine in the rear be?

[TheDgreezyFan]

They’re wasting such a beautiful design! Hopefully they rework the power train for 2021/2022 and give it some real power

[EconomicsMate]

I love what BMW has done with the I8 over the years in terms of design and road presence, gives it that supercar feel, but ive always said that this car should never have been a 3cylinder hybrid, but instead a mid engined v8 or v12. It wouldve been the ultimate bmw supercar. There is one i8 ik of that has been converted into a mid engined v8 as it deserves.

[Kittievr]

This car looks so good to me on the outside. I had such high hopes for it.

[BrendanEvan]

"Allegedly fun mode" ....ha!

[gattsu]

Matt and Zack makes videos about cars worth watching. Thank you guys.

[po.russki]

Love your videos, you really do reviews differently in a better way and seem to talk about important aspects which aren't usually mentioned in other reviews.

[louisburley]

I really enjoyed this one take! Keep it up Matt!

[Paintbosscolorado]

I’ve been waiting on this to determine if I should buy one. Thanks Matt, finally!!! I8 time is upon us.

[maybe]

You lost me at 167K, all show no go, super small market for a car like this. Nice concept car, not sure it works as a production car.