This S65 V8-Powered BMW i8 'GTR' Will Leave You Charmed And Befuddled

The i8 seen here is a very different beast to the road-going hybrid, with S65 V8 power and a new platform
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The whole point of the i8 is its hybrid powertrain, which - following a mid-life refresh - provides a combined 369bhp. A good chunk of that comes from the electrical side of the equation, giving the coupe a character unlike any other sports car.

Seeing one powered by a V8, then, does give us mixed feelings. That said, this isn’t technically an i8 at all - what you’re looking at is a silhouette racer comprised of an i8 body sitting on a tubular space frame platform made by a company called Solution F. A neat touch is the choice of V8 - it’s a BMW unit. A good one, at that - the race-spec version of the S65 that was used in the Z4 GTE many moons ago.

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This gives the ‘i8 GTR’ 550bhp. That’s a healthy output considering it’s a lot lighter than an i8 road car, tipping the scales at just 1100kg.

All of this makes us a little sad that the i8 will go out of production next April with BMW having never made a go-faster M version. A V8 wouldn’t have worked, nor would have an inline-six, but an inline-four? That would have done the trick. Alpina managed to squeeze an inline-four into the i8 by modifying the rear subframe, yielding a car with 100bhp more than the stock output. BMW weren’t keen, however, so the project never made it past the prototype phase.

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Comments

Rahul 1

As much I adored the I8 for its gorgeous design and really the whole car itself, It should’ve been charming just like that from the factory. In a full commitment, BMW could’ve honestly made this either a full fledged M1 successor or a batsh!t crazy version of the Tesla Roadster 2 before the Tesla Roadster 2 even existed.

12/25/2019 - 16:24 |
32 | 0
......

Imagine if the I8 had a twin turbo v8 or a newer V12 from the 7 series

12/25/2019 - 18:55 |
10 | 0
Bryan Bobbylight

How about the BMW i8 a v8

12/25/2019 - 22:06 |
8 | 0
ᴶᵘˢᵗᴬᴿᵃⁿᵈᵒá

Imagine if the production version didn’t come with an engine straight from the Mini Cooper

12/26/2019 - 03:05 |
8 | 0