With its composite chassis and futuristic looks, not to mention a hi-tech duo of an
electric and petrol engine, the BMW i8 is a futuristic stunner.
But jump back more than three decades, and the last mid-engined car to wear a BMW badge
turned just as many heads when it was launched in 1978.
So, to find out how thirty years of evolution has affected the ultimate BMW sports car,
we've brought a classic M1 along to meet the new i8.
The BMW i8 combines a 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo from the MINI Cooper, which drives the
rear wheels, with an electric motor driving the front axle.
Under the engine cover of the M1 you'll find a much more traditional 3.5-litre six-cylinder
matched to a five-speed ZF gearbox.
Despite all its batteries, electric motors and accompanying technology, and composite
chassis and carbonfibre-reinforced body, means the i8 weighs just 1,485kg.
It has a combined power output of 357bhp matched to a substantial 570Nm of torque.
The M1 has a metal spaceframe chassis clad in plastic body panels and weighs just 1,300kg.
The traditional BMW six-cylinder engine produces 277bhp and 330Nm of torque.
Order an i8 today and you'll have to wait nearly two years for delivery, such is the
demand for this near-£100,000 BMW.
In contrast BMW struggled to sell the M1 in period, yet today with just 400 cars ever
produced, you'll need to fork out over nearly £400,000 to get a mint example of this appreciating
classic.
Let's jump back over 30 years into the BMW M1, and when you look at this car from the
outside, aside from the wheels, some of the vents and 70s-style fins, the styling and
the shape of this car could almost be launched today, it's such a futuristic shape.
When you get inside, there's no doubt what decade you're in when you get inside the car.
Very very 70s in here.
Away from all the BMW technology in the new i8, this car is very very traditional.
You've got a six-cylinder typical BMW engine, five-speed manual ZF gearbox, it's got a dog-leg
first gear.
When you get into this car, and at low speed, the steering is very very heavy - no power
assistance obviously.
When you get moving, it frees up and it's perfectly weighted and this engine just really
has to be worked hard.
Really really nice.
Now this one has very slight misfire, it's got mechanical fuel injection this car, and
this particular one I'm driving has a slight misfire, you might hear that, but it sounds
really nice when it's up to the top of its revs.
The gearbox itself is a lovely lovely shift action.
The pedals are really offset because of the size of the wheels, your legs are sort of
pointing to the centre of the car, but the pedals themselves are perfectly set up for
heel and toe, and in terms of the chassis and the feel of this car, it just feels like
a really nicely balanced mid-engined car.
Obviously we're not pushing it to the absolute limit, but it's just really really nicely
balanced.
You can feel that there is a real balance between front and rear grip and through this
high-speed corner there is some body roll as you'd expect of a car of this period, but
the front end is really positive - it turns in really nicely and it's just a really, really
nice car to drive.
What you've got to bear in mind with this car, is the spaceframe chassis, obviously
rear-wheel drive and mid-engined.
The race versions of this car had upwards of 800bhp so massively more power than the
road car, and you can feel the chassis was designed to take a lot more power.
With the sort of power this car's got, the chassis feels perfectly suited to it.
Does it feel fast in modern terms?
Well, it doesn't feel ridiculously fast.
If you got into any modern BMW performance car it would feel a lot quicker, what it does
have is that really really engaging sense that you're in a BMW.
It's just really really enjoyable to drive.
I've got to say, I could happily drive this car all day long.
It's an absolute joy to drive and it's a real privilege to drive a car like this.
But, how does it compare to an i8?
Let's jump forward thirty years and see how BMW's latest mid-engine supercar compares.
Because of its age and value, we didn't set a lap time in the M1, but it performed brilliantly
around our test track.
So let's find out how it compares to BMW's latest mid-engined supercar.
So jump forward more than thirty years into BMW's latest supercar and it couldn't be more
different than the M1 in here.
Obviously the exterior styling is just simply sensational - I've never driven many cars
at all, ever, that attract as much attention as this car on the road.
It's pretty spectacular styling and inside it's pretty futuristic too.
Obviously the first party-piece of this car is doing what we're doing now, which is driving
along completely silently in EV mode just running off that electric motor which is driving
the front axle, and there's a real sense of something quite special driving an electric
car.
Even in this mode, this car is, around town, more than fast enough, if you keep it in electric
mode - it feels more than quick enough.
We're going to stop that now as we're on the track.
You flick the gearlever across into Sport mode, the engine fires up, obviously it's
a three cylinder engine from the MINI Cooper.
Now, you'd never know that because BMW's piping in some really quite authentic six-cylinder
sounds into the cabin, almost reminiscent of being in the M1.
Suddenly the performance takes on a new realm once you have both power units running, because,
effectively what BMW have done is very very clever.
There's no sense of needing to let the revs build in this car, basically as soon as you
get on the throttle, you get both systems helping you get the electric motor torque-filling
effectively.
Just filling up instant power as you get on the throttle.
That instant acceleration of an electric motor with the extra grunt of a traditional engine.
It's a lovely combination.
What's it like around the track?
Well, obviously, it doesn't have that raw mechanical sense of attachment to the road
you get in the M1.
The steering is very very light, it's not vague at any point.
It's light but it's not vague.
We're going to come round and start a lap now and go a little bit quicker.
And the performance is really good, it's so instant and the six-speed automatic gearbox
is really nice and if you use the paddles you get quite an authentic blip on the downshift.
It's the fact that the power comes in so soon that's so engaging about this car.
Body control is really good as you come through his loaded corner.
As you come to the exit of the corner, the default setting on the car is a little bit
of understeer on the exit of the corner, which is a bit alien for a BMW, but it's not a major
problem and it's only when you're really towards the limit.
There's still plenty of grip in this car, performance is great and that soundtrack inside
the cabin is really, really interesting.
It's a whole new world of fast car it really isn't like any other BMW, but it is rather
special.
And the turn-in is still really good.
It turns in really well.
Body control is really good, there's lots of grip, it hangs on, just a little bit of
understeer on the exit, hard on the power to the 'S'.
About 85mph through the 'S' here, body control and the change of direction is really good.
Even though the steering is light, it's not vague.
There's plenty of feel in what's going on, you can really accurately place the car in
tight corners.
The traction is really good in these low-speed corners, again, because you're effectively
having four-wheel drive the way the drivetrain works.
It's a really great, very interesting car and it actually, on the track it's perfectly
enjoyable to drive on the track.
It's not an out-and-out track car, it is a fantastic road car, but it's still quite enjoyable
on the track.
Very, very different from the M1.
You can see that both of them are true BMWs at heart.
It's not often that BMW breaks the mould and builds a mid-engined car, but when they do
they know how to make their mark.
The M1 was conceived as a homologation special for racing and had a troubled birth.
But, today, it's rightly revered as a classic, whereas the i8 is a technological showcase
that packs masses of desirability.
So, while this pair are separated by more than three decades, they are simply two of
the most stunning BMWs in the world.
Click on the left to watch our video of a classic BMW M3 CSL, or click on the right
hand side to watch the new BMW M4 take on the Jaguar F-Type.
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