I remember C&D did a review when it came out, and halfway through they called it the most disappointing new American car in a decade.

Came here to post this. Compared to this, all other negative car reviews are just ‘not-favorable’.

BMW is saying they aren’t going to import the sDrive of this one, because it would be a completely FWD BMW, which BMW NA thinks is a step too far. I give it 2 years, possibly 3 before they change their minds.

Thank. You. So frustrating. If only that was the sole error in the report.

Cost. The B58 is supposed to be a part of BMWs new family of ‘scale-able’ engines, so it shares parts and design with the 2.0 4’s, and can be built on the same assembly line.

Also, whoever decided on the gearing for the manual should be fired. Absolutely no reason a 300+hp small sedan should be turning over 3,000 rpm at 80mph. Which is 100% of the reason the manual is a whopping 3mpg down on the auto.

Also, dyno tests showed these made the same power as the S/SL/CL 55 AMGs, MB just put a smaller number to it because it was a cheaper car. Believe the numbers on those were 493hp/516lb-ft, instead of 469/516.

I believe those pictures are of the original i8 Spyder concept, from back in ~’08 or so. So, don’t get your hopes up.

Head on over to Oppo, there’s a nice article in there by a former owner about how BMW decided to jack production #s way up earlier this year. Most of your larger BMW dealers have at least an i8 or two in stock, if not more. $160k is just how much they cost, I think they base out around $145k.

Please, please please please let it be a 2-seater with ‘Spyder’ humps in the back. So tired of people insisting it’s fine if they ride in the back seat, and, sadly, I don’t thing the overly-upright greenhouse necessitated by those two seats is going to age all that gracefully.

China, Shmina. JLR doesn’t have any difficulty making their 5.0 V8 sound nasty as hell. Same with GM and their V8s. I think the current GT exhaust is fine for regular GTs, but there should definitely be a meaner one on offer for the rest of the world, including the place that will buy probably 80+% of these things.

I get why the GT is a touch on the quiet side, but to me, if you make the choice to step up to the Performance Pack, it should up the ante a lot in the exhaust department. And, the global market truck I drove there didn’t offer up any excuses.

Truth. Test drove a new GT Performance Pack with the manual, but made the mistake of driving a Range Rover Sport with the Supercharged V8 - I left dumbfounded that the musclecar was the one with the pathetic exhaust note. What is up with not offering decent exhaust setups on performance vehicles?!?

It’s funny, I actually think the V10 is a pretty bad value - it was all around slower than a 911 Turbo, and for a good bit more money, whereas the V8 was competitive with N/A 911s for the same money. Gen 1 R8s definitely are not great handling cars, but steering feel is good, and really, the limits are quite high…

The V8 was a really, really great value. Actually cost a bit less than a 911 GTS4. And, assuming you don’t need the moderately better practicality of the 911, which one would you rather have?

Yeah, the ZF 8-speed isn’t exactly a wet-noodle of a transmission. It may not give 400k trouble free miles pushing that much power, but I’d be shocked if many gave up by 100k miles of non-abuse.

Make another visit. It isn’t a long-standing trend, and most of them aren’t as severe as the one pictured (they’re done more off-road style than ‘dammit, all those little Isuzu trucks are rusted out so I guess we’ll start modding Silverados’ style), but they’re all over the place, at least here in Central NC.

The likelyhood of a 700hp car being news in 13+ years is very, very slim. Think about it - 13 years ago, an E55 was making 469hp, and that was the shit. Now? A V6 Lincoln MKZ is making 400. A Lincoln. And an entry-level Lincoln at that. It’d take until the end of the day to list cars that are more powerful than that…

Believe it or not, the Turbos actually represent a pretty good value in the 911 lineup. Option up a GTS4 PDK with some of the options you want, and pretty soon you’re bumping right up on (if not blowing right past) $150k. And Turbos come standard with a lot of stuff that’s optional on other 911s. Plus, you get the…

I believe they’re mostly part of Fiat dealerships at this point. But, with the sedan and SUV (I think? Aren’t they working on an SUV?) coming out, I’d think you’ll see more of them pairing up with non-Fiat dealerships.