Do you consider the BMW i8 a supercar?

"cletus44 aka Clayton Seams" (cletus44)
12/11/2014 at 11:37 • Filed to: None

Where I work, a car review is classified as a Car Review or a Supercar Review. We don't have a separate designation for sports cars. I think the i8 is a cool car with I Robot looks but I think its itty bitty three-cylinder disqualifies it as a supercar. What say you, oppo?

DISCUSSION (36)

Vi517, JDX Racing > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:38

I'd say it's a sports car, but much closer to a supercar than a normal car.

Tohru > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:38

It's a car, not a supercar.

Technically I think it'd be called a "halo car" but you lack a category for that.

Leon711 > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:40

nyet, sports car.

HammerheadFistpunch > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:41

Well, I don't care about it very much...or have a chance of owning one barring a huge financial windfall...so yeah, I guess it would count.

TheHondaBro > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:42

If you can consider the new NSX a supercar, the i8 is as well.

Alex B > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:43

I think of it as a supercar.

heliochrome85 > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:43

I think it is a supercar. Look at the tech and innovation. You don't see that stuff outside of other supercars.

Bandit > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:44

It's a supercar in my book. I mean, look at the doors!

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:46

Not really. I consider it the future.

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > Tohru
12/11/2014 at 11:47

Came here to say this. Well put Tohru

McMike > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:48

Is the i8 neat? Yes.

Is the i8 look racy and fast? Yes

Is it super? No.

Someone wrote an article recently suggesting that the i8 was the modern-day Countach. I can see how the WOW design is exciting, and is filling up the desktops (wallpaper) of computers and mobile devices as we speak, (taking the place of wall posters) but it's not a supercar

Supercars need to be fucking beast, too.

LappingLuke > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:50

I think the performance disqualifies it as a supercar. Yes it's pretty quick in a straight line but by all accounts it seems it sort of falls flat in the actual driving component. To be a supercar a car needs to strike a balance between acceleration and braking power and great handling in such a way that exceeds 99% (or something) of other cars. A Ferrari 355 is probably superior to the i8 in overall performance and we wouldn't consider it a supercar (though a legacy supercar would probably be accurate). The i8 is a fast enough, extraordinarily special car but no supercar by 2014 standards for sure.

JGrabowMSt > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:51

I certainly don't consider the i8 a supercar.

I consider my SL600 Sport a supercar.

But plenty of people disagree with me.

Saracen > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:55

Paging BTU..

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > TheHondaBro
12/11/2014 at 11:56

I consider the NSX to be a bloated dilution of what Honda used to be.

PushToStart > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:56

Is it a supercar in the traditional sense? No, but this isn't a traditional car. I'd go so far as to say that the i8 is the beginning of the redefinition of what a supercar is. So yes, it is a supercar in my opinion.

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > Bandit
12/11/2014 at 11:56

Doors go up? Supercar.

shop-teacher > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:57

It managed to make me want a BMW, I think that's pretty super ... but no, I don't think it's a supercar.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:58

If I had to choose between yes and no with no in between, I'd say it's a supercar. But be warned, you will get hate no matter which you choose to file it under, because people are assholes.

SantaRita > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 11:59

Super-car. The level of technology is super-ior to any, power notwithstanding the bodywork alone is exotic grade and the overall experience should be exotic enough too if not for the sake of sheer power it is super for any number of other reasons... The same way the old 8 series was a super-car, but not really a 'HYPER-car" as it was laden with technology but not the fastest or most compelling to drive, it still made an keen executive missile..

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
12/11/2014 at 11:59

We've been filing it under supercar this far just for the record.

Hahayoustupidludditeshutupandgohandcrankyourmodeltalready > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 12:05

Tesla Model X?

Yossarian > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 12:08

Mid-engine? Check.

Carbon fiber construction? Check.

3.9 second 0-60? Check.

Unique and striking design? Check.

It's definitely a supercar, even with a 3 cylinder.

Rainbow > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 12:09

It's an exotic car, but not super. I don't know what the difference is between those, but apparently this one doesn't overlap by whatever my definition is.

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > Hahayoustupidludditeshutupandgohandcrankyourmodeltalready
12/11/2014 at 12:12

Super duper car.

Hermann > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 12:17

I think it isn't.

Certainly a sporty flagship, but not a supercar. BMW themselves just classify it as a Hybrid Sporty Coupé.

But all reviews I've read so far approach it as a "gorgeous Hybrid" and after they drive it, walk away describing it as an amazing supercar.

djmt1 > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 12:22

Sure. If you only have two categories those being normal and super then this is leaning more to super IMO.

davedave1111 > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 12:26

I don't think you can say anything based on the engine, since the car as a whole has over 350bhp, is pretty light, and does 0-60 in about 4 seconds. A few years ago I'd have had no hesitation in saying that it was a supercar, but these days that's more like the top-end of sportscar territory.

Is a Jag F-type a supercar? A 911? Hard to say for sure.

As far as a publication goes, I'd stick the i8 under supercar, because no controversy is bad controversy.

BigBlock440 > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/11/2014 at 12:32

No. If the sole qualification for being a supercar is it being European, as it seems most people's definitions are, than maybe. I consider performance to be the main factor in whether or not it's a supercar, and too many "non-supercars" can beat it handily.

nermal > McMike
12/11/2014 at 12:40

I can see the comparisons between the I8 and the Countach when you think about it.

When the Countach was released, it looked like a batshit insane, cocaine driven drawing of some 12 year old of what kinda spaceship-ish car he would build given unlimited budget and complete disregard for practicality and reason.

Fast forward to 2014, replace the cocaine with some Molly and give the kid an Iphone, and what would you expect the resulting car to be like?

McMike > nermal
12/11/2014 at 13:32

Fast forward to 2014, replace the cocaine with some Molly and give the kid an Iphone, and what would you expect the resulting car to be like?

Just like the kid on molly - slow.