The BMW i8 Is Slower On Track Than You'd Think

German tuning house AC Schnitzer has taken the BMW i8 to the Nurburgring for a bit of fun, and it’s not as quick as you might expect.

During the company’s performance testing of its modified version of the flagship hybrid sports car, it posted a lap of 8m19.8s, which is a bit disappointing even compared to the fastest hot hatchbacks – the latest Civic Type R has blitzed a lap in 7m43.8s; some 36 seconds in front.

That said, we instantly go back to the old argument of ‘which is faster’ versus ‘which would you rather drive/own’.

The i8’s problem seems to be performance at higher speeds. Above 90mph or so it really starts to crawl up the speedometer, which is no real problem for road drivers but it’s a kick in the danglies for track work, especially on a circuit like the Nordschleife that has plenty of potential for high speeds.

Anyway, surprising lap times aside, we’d like to tell you more about the car itself. AC Schnitzer has taken the standard car and switched the suspension for its own setup, with shorter springs by 25mm and 20mm front and rear respectively. The wheels are larger but forged from the latest light-alloy metal, they’re wrapped in much wider rubber – up to 245-section at the front at 285 at the back.

This is going to help your corner speeds on circuits, but there’s no more pace on offer. The 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine still coughs up 227bhp and the electric motor is still good for 129bhp on its own. It’s rapid to 62mph, hitting the European launch benchmark in 4.4 seconds, but it could do with more top-end power if it’s going to set really quick lap times.

Naturally, AC Schnitzer has modified the interior, too, but surprisingly modestly. The pedals have been changed for aluminium ones and there are matching accents on the centre console, but otherwise it’s pretty much as-you-were.

That’s not something you can say about the exterior, which has been given the Aerodynamic Conversion. It’s basically just a mountain of carbonfibre that looks cool and doubles as functional aero bodywork – though we don’t have stats on how much lift it reduces/downforce it generates. Still, it’ll look nice parked outside da club.