BMW i8: an absolute game changer

The new BMW feels like a spaceship in a distant orbit - it just needs Captain Kirk at the wheel. By Thomas Falkiner

When was the last time a piece of technology cooked your brain and blew off the top of your skull? You know, left you standing in a pool of molten grey matter as you tried in vain to wrap the remnants of your mind around the multiple PhD levels of innovation? Well, for me it was last week when I got to play with a new sports car built by the Bavarian whiz-kids at BMW. It's called the i8 and it looks like it was stolen from that city in Joseph Kosinski's Tron: Legacy.

Cynics might draw parallels to the old M1 supercar that prowled streets in the sepia-soaked '70s. But this is a laughable notion because the word "retro" simply does not exist within the i8 realm. Riding atop an aluminium backbone chassis, its carbon fibre reinforced plastic passenger cell has been shaped by the wind tunnel to slice through our atmosphere like an Imperial Star Destroyer.

This means it's low and flat and latticed with curious vents and grilles, some of which are large enough to swallow a man's fist. The front and rear light clusters have been shaped to resemble limb-severing energy weapons. Open the doors and they flap upwards to mimic the wings of a robotic buzzard plunging in for the kill. Contrasting paintwork. 20-inch wheels. Blue body accents. The i8 is the dark knight of a new digital frontier, one that leaves a crowd of whiplashed oglers gasping in its silent wake.

Silent? You betcha. Strip away that lightweight exoskeleton and you'll discover that this 1 485kg road shark is, in fact, a plug-in hybrid. Which means it has an electric motor bolted beneath its bonnet. Juiced by a lithium-ion battery pack and powering only the front wheels, this drivetrain offers almost 40km of emissions-free driving at speeds of up to 120km/h - ideal for the daily work-home run.

It also blends an eerie sense of occasion into the mix. While most other sports cars are architects of noise, unruly thugs armed with throbbing engines and rumbling exhaust systems, the i8, when set to eDrive mode, sounds no louder than the fan whirring inside your laptop. It feels like a mobile isolation tank in here. Like a spaceship orbiting the farthest reaches of deep space. Heck, it even has a cockpit to match with backlit digital gauges and TFT screens you'd expect to find only on the command deck of the USS Enterprise.

But as Captain Kirk's starship could rip open a bucket of cosmic whupass, so too can the i8. Just in front of the rear axle lives a teeny three-cylinder petrol engine that has been turbocharged to within an inch of its life. In Eco Pro and Comfort mode it kicks in as and when you need it. Switch over to Sport, however, and it stays constantly primed and ready for action, driving the rear wheels with an angry (albeit digitally produced and fed through the speakers) thrum reminiscent of half a Porsche 911.

Boosted by that ever-present electric motor, it's enough to turn the i8 into an impressively fast car - one that can hold its own in the presence of its conventional peers. It knows how to handle too. Once you learn to deal with the understeer (those skinny, eco-friendly front tyres don't do front-end grip any favours) and slightly vague steering, you'll discover that this is probably the sharpest BMW in years. It feels light and agile, and changes direction with more control and conviction than most M cars I've driven. Crucially, the i8 is genuinely satisfying to drive hard. Even more so when you realise that, after ages with your right foot flat, you're averaging 10.4l/100km. Try that in a 991 Carrera S.

With its mean sci-fi styling and complicated technology, the i8, conceptually speaking, ran the risk of being a disappointment. Similar to John DeLorean's ill-fated DMC-12, its image could have written lavish cheques the rest of the car would never have been able to cash. Fortunately, this isn't the case. If anything, the new BMW i8 serves to demonstrate just how effective the hybrid drivetrain system can be when spliced into a sports car by offering both pace and frugality in equally generous measure.

It's an absolute game changer: a technological watershed that will smash your antiquated cerebrum to smithereens. Trust me - I'm still picking up the pieces.

FAST FACTS ABOUT THE BMW i8

Engine: BMW eDrive motor + 1 499cc three-cylinder turbo

Power: 96kW at 4 800rpm + 170kW at 5 800r pm

Torque: 250Nm + 320Nm at 3 700r pm

0-100km/h: 4.4- seconds

Top speed: 250km/h (limited)

Fuel: 10.2l/100km (achieved)

Price: R1 755 000