Page 36 - Motor Trend (April 2020)
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COMPARISON I Acura NSX vs. BMW i8 vs. Lexus LC 500h vs. Polestar 1
fires up. Its EPA score is a test-best 69
mpg-e (a fuel economy score averaging
electricity and gas usage).
Although the i8 impressed us when it
first hit the streets, our top two finishers
prove that more is possible from a
performance hybrid. A good mid-engine
car is typically well balanced and capable
of pushing hard into a corner, settling,
and rocketing out quickly.
Yet the i8 never really settles down
when driven hard. Steering feel is arti-
ficial, the chassis firm, the suspension
flinty. Combine that with its relatively
narrow-profile front tires, and the i8
fights you instead of working with you
on a winding road, pushing and clawing
for grip in areas where the top two
contenders weren’t.
The i8’s two motors, two
The BMW i8’s trunk ties for the largest in this comparison. That’s especially transmissions, and one engine wasn’t
impressive considering there’s a turbocharged I-3 sitting in it.
our favorite powertrain, either.
Although they provided good off-the-
driving the front wheels through a line torque and zippy performance when
two-speed automatic gearbox. Tying dicing through traffic, the i8’s engine
the system together is an 11.6-kW-hr and motors don’t deliver the high-end
lithium-ion battery mounted between power we expect from a carbon-
and underneath the front seats to keep bodied, mid-engine BMW. Instead of
the center of gravity low. complementing each other, the i8’s I-3
Updated for 2019 with more battery and motors all seem to run out of steam
capacity, EV range, and power, the i8 at the same time, just north of 60 mph.
plug-in hybrid (PHEV)—essentially a A close-ratio eight-speed gearbox in
hybrid with a bigger battery that you can back could likely help make more of
plug in, allowing for significantly more less, but adding power seems like the far
time spent cruising with the engine off— simpler solution.
now sports a total system output of 369 Ultimately, the BMW i8 paved the
hp and 420 lb-ft of torque. Electric-only way for all four of these performance
range is up to 17 miles before the I-3 hybrids, but as editor-in-chief Mark
Rechtin puts it, the i8’s performance,
“while sporty, doesn’t live up to the
intergalactic styling of the exterior.”
Thankfully, our top two finishers deliver
on all promises.
36 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020
