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I drove a BMW today. Leith BMW brought some cars out to IBM today for employees to try out. The invitation talked about the i8 hybrid sports car, as a tease to get us interested. I was able to sit in it (with everything powered off/dark so I can't tell Vincent if the CEL was on) but nobody got to drive it. I can report that it's pretty, it costs $158K, and with scissors doors and a tall doorsill, it's harder to get in and out of than a C4 Corvette, but easier than a Lotus Exige. So it's hard to get in and out of. It has enough storage room in the back for a bag of groceries. Did I mention I didn't get to drive it?

They had about 8 cars and tru... SU... SAVs on hand for us to drive on a short course that used a campus roadway and a closed off parking lot. I drove a red 440i Gran Coupe. This is a 4-door hatchback based on the 3-series, with a 320 hp turbo six, and (only) an 8-speed auto whose gear selector appears to be borrowed from a Prius. The salesman put it in sport mode and showed me how to wiggle the Prius shifter into drive, and off we went. I had two passengers in the back, including a manager I know, so I took it pretty easy on the campus roadway. The salesman encouraged me to drive it harder in the parking lot, so I gunned it to the top of the lot and around the 180 degree turn. The roadways and parking lots are still covered with sand from last month's snow, so it pushed a bit on entry and the back end wiggled on exit, and then I saw that the driver in the following car was using the tree planter islands along the center of the lot as giant slalom cones, and was coming straight at us. I got to try an evasive maneuver.

When my drive was over, the guy in the back seat (the one that I didn't know) said he wanted to drive, so we switched places and went out again. Saying he needed to "find out if the car's handling is neutral", he proceeded to flog it on the campus roadway and do the giant slalom thing in the parking lot, so we could feel the traction control/stability control kick in and out as we slid across the sand. When we got back to the starting point I noticed he was wearing a Hurricane Region PCA shirt. I would have liked to stick around and take another test drive, but it was scrum time.

My assessment of the 440i, based on a 2 minute drive in a parking lot: Good looking car despite the ant-eater nose, impressive power. The steering was both heavy and overboosted at the same time. Let's say artificial. My sunglasses rendered the heads-up display invisible. Surprised that I had enough headroom in the back seat. I would prefer fewer electronic distractions inside and a manual transmission. Sticker price was $30K more than I've ever paid for a new car.

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Art McDonald
Premier Amateur #518
2008 Dishman Cup
Pivot Cone Snob

Rodney is a waxer (but in a good way)

I keep hoping they fix the steering but it sounds like they have not done it yet.

The closest they got, R53 mini's have an electric power steering pump and a hydraulic rack feels wonderful, one of the best things about the car

newer went full electric and they suck

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2008 135i
2005 mini S
1999 540i aka valdez

BMW came to SAS a few months ago with a 'Charge Your Workday' event that was only electric cars that BMW sells. Like yours they said we'd be able to test drive some cars and that they would also bring the i8. A coworker and I signed up for first thing in the morning, 9:30 or so.

When we got there they had a few cars out and a tent where we gave them some information and signed some generic consent form. Then, they asked us which cars we'd like to drive. Immediately both of us responded with the i8. He nodded and said, "Yeah, that's what most people are choosing. You're three or four down the wait-list so just hang out and look at the other cars while you wait."

As we were looking at the other cars we noticed that the i8 was coming back for new drivers after decently lengthy test drives (7-10 minutes at a time at least). We also noticed that no one was getting in the car with anyone. When it came our turn, we told the guys running it (all very young, but super nice) that we'd ride with each other and somewhere out on the drive we'd switch seats so we wouldn't have to waste everyone's time back here. He replied with, "Sounds good, the keys should be in it."

That was it, no briefing on how the car works, where to drive.....anything. We both hopped in and immediately decided we should do a nice loop of some SAS backroads and also I40 including that great 'offramp' from Wade onto 440. I don't make enough money to decide whether $160k was 'worth it' or not, but that car was an absolute blast to drive. We also discovered that the sales guys had put a chime to go off when the car hit a certain three digit number. Overall, it definitely made me a believer that Hybrid and Performance can go together in a single package. And that aside from the difficulty in getting in and out of the car you could daily drive that car and be 100% comfortable.

When we got back after 15-20 minutes (remember each of us deserved our 10 minute stint ) the guy asked how it was. We told him how great it was to drive and that the car really had a lot of get up and go for it's weight. He noticed that the exhaust was tinking from the heat that had been generated.

Unfortunately we found out later that day that future test drives of the i8 were limited to on campus only. We're not sure if that was a decision based on time, fuel, or general tomfoolery. Either way, through all the 'fake sound', and the 3cyl turbo, and the heavy weight, BMW did a great job with that car.

That used to be a really nice cloverleaf in the old days to use for tuning, etc, as it was a continuous one you could stay on forever. I did many, many laps there suspension tuning and tire testing...of course this is 35+ years ago now, dang.

Similarly, the one at Glenwood was a continuous leaf too with it's somewhat diabolical downhill decreasing radius turn 1 when going east on the Beltline and exiting at Glenwood (gone now). The Glenwood one was a much slower, smaller radius leaf.

The only one still around that's complete opened in ~1982: the I-440/I-40 continuous leaf just west of Jones Franklin Rd. This one was empty back then, so it was perfect for it's needs. It seems like it is perpetually crowded today, at least any time I've been near it.

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2