At the moment, on of the most interesting and polarizing cars on the market is the BMW i8. Its incredible design, surprising performance and hybrid supercar cred make it BMW’s most fascinating car. Which makes what’s to come this year even more exciting.
In 2017, we will see the latest supercar project from the Bavarians — the BMW i8 Spyder. With a removable roof and an LCI update to its eDrive powertrain, the BMW i8 Spyder will be the most exciting car to come from BMW all year.
Firstly, just look at the i8. Removing its roof will only make it even more stunning, as its design also lends itself really quite well to being a convertible. But it’s not even just its beauty, as its carbon fiber construction will allow it to stay equally as rigid as the coupe it stems from. Typically, when you cut the roof off of a car, its chassis rigidity drops significantly, thanks to it not being connected at one end afterward. This forces automakers to add extra chassis bracing, making it stiffer but also quite a lot heavier. That’s on top of the typical power folding roof mechanism, which also increases weight.
With the added heft and loss of torsional rigidity, topless sports cars don’t often have the same driving dynamics as their coupe counterparts. However, much like the McLaren 650S Spyder, the BMW i8 will suffer no such loss in rigidity or dynamics, thanks to its single-piece carbon fiber passenger cell. In fact, the Spyder will only offer more drama and excitement to the already impressive dynamics, much like a McLaren.
Secondly, BMW will be giving the eDrive hybrid powertrain a bit of a boost with the LCI (Life Cycle Impulse — “refresh” in BMW speak) update for the i8. That means it will get a small bump in power and torque for the 1.5 liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine and electric motors. It will likely only be around 15-20 hp extra, but it’s better than nothing at all. There could also be some changes to the electronics and technology, so it could become more efficient as well. We should also see some changes made to the cabin tech, such as the addition of iDrive 6.0 and maybe even some new graphics for the digital gauge cluster.
The BMW i8 is currently one of the most exciting and intriguing cars in the world. It’s hard to not look at the i8 in wonder and the desire to drive it. Without its roof, it will only get better. It will not only look better, which is almost hard to imagine, but it will be exciting and dramatic from the driver’s seat. More of that snarly three-cylinder noise will fill your ears and the 264,000 feet of headroom will make the BMW i8 the most exciting Bavarian of 2017.
