BMW's i8 Spyder Will Bring More Power

There's much love in the CT office for the i8 coupe, and we're looking forward to the Spyder's arrival even more now that we know it's adding performance

Matt Kimberley

02 Jun 2017

BMW is in the advanced stages of testing its lovely i8 Spyder, and we’ve just learned that it’s set to arrive with a power hike.

Skip to the video’s 15-second mark to see the new car’s appearance at the Nurburgring recently. The open-top i8 will arrive in early 2018, to coincide with the coupe’s facelift, and both versions will get the same upgrades versus the current car.

The rumour mill is currently pinning a 10 per cent power boost to the cars, taking it to around 420bhp; still slightly less than you get in an M3 but with the obvious benefit of greater fuel economy and much more technology to play with.

Launched in 2014, the i8 is due an upgrade anyway

It’s expected that the i8 Spyder will be heavier than the 1560kg coupe, though. It won’t have an electric roof, instead using a canvas panel that has to be removed and stowed by hand, much like the original Porsche Boxster Spyder. Practical? No. Exclusive? Yes. Better-looking? Definitely.

Elsewhere there’s likely to be updated tech in the cabin, with gesture control one of the features that are likely to be added to the car from 2018. Some sort of greater autonomy is also on the cards. On the visual front it will swap a regular tailgate for supercar-style buttresses behind the two seats.

In related news we understand that the faster version of the already quick i3 will arrive before the i8 Spyder, suggesting that next year could be a very interesting time for exciting electrified cars.

Via: Autocar

Comments

See, Toyota? BMW knows how to make a cool hybrid.

Cough cough BMW i3 cough Cough POS cough Cough.

makes laprius p918 spyder

While I do like the i8, what I don’t like are the people who own it - Instagram models, YouTube hipsters and the swaggers. So essentially people who say they care about the planet but in reality they don’t and ultimately buy it for it’s so called “futuristic appeal”. #sorrynotsorry

Basically the same as the problem with Prii. Bought for greenwash.

What about meeeee, im not an insta model, or a hipster, im a guy who bought it having not seen the car i got it because my god it sounded cool

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I do not like the I8, but the spyder might change that.

Hell we all wish we had a car like that!

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i8 a spider.

I think it needs more power. At this price, it’s really competing with the Honda/Acura NSX. So I’d like to see an i8 M (I ate em? Sounds like what the car’s rear end did to a 911…) with a straight-six and the hybrid setup. Either that or more electric motors.