Wheels Australia – August 2019

18 whichcar.com.au/wheels

days



established by the i8. But in the power

department, the two are worlds apart.

The Vision M Next produces almost

double the power of its i8 forebear,

with a turbocharged 2.0-litre engine

feeding its power to a pair of 22-inch

rear wheels. An electric motor at each

axle joins the power party; part of a

three-prong attack that produces a total

F YOU’REOLDenoughto

havea beardthat’sgrown

Gandalflong,youmight

wellstrokeit fondlyasyou

recalltheheadydaysof

thelate1970s,backwhen

BMW’sperformanceaspirationswere

spearheadedbythebrand’sfirst-ever

mid-enginedsupercar,theM1.

Bornin 1978 fromthepenof

legendaryItaliandesignerGiugiaro,

theproductionM1elevatedBMWto

a positionofabsoluteperformance

superiorityoveritsGermanrivals.

Thecarwaspoweredbya 3.5-litre

inlinesix,goodfora then-impressive

204kWand0-100km/hin5.3seconds.

Butif theaboveprofilefitsyour

description,thenyoulikelywentfrom

strokingthatbeardtotearingit out

hairbypainfulhairwhenyouheard

in 2014 thatBMWwaslaunchinga

spiritual successor to the M1 – the

plug-inhybridi8.Whatsortofevil

sorcerywasthis?AnM1successorthat,

with266kW,producednotmuchmore

powerthana carfrom 36 yearsago,

andat4.4secondsto100km/h,wasn’t

eventhatmuchfaster?

Granted,thei8wasa technological

powerhouse,debutingthebrand’s

carbonfibrechassismanufacturing

capabilities,aswellasactingasa flag

bearerforplug-inhybridperformance.

Butit leftplentywondering

whetherBMWhadburdeneda

masterfulchassiswithanadvanced

butinsufficientlymuscular

powertraininthepursuitofheadline

fuel-economynumbers.

Nowwebringyouthegood

news,becausewe’veseenthei8’s

replacement;theVisionMNext

concept.Theeagle-eyedamongyou

mighthavealreadynoticedthat,

design-wise, it riffs on the themes

AUGUST 2019

BMW:

“We have

a Vision...”

I

THAT‘VISION’ISTHE‘MNEXT’,A CONCEPTTHATWILL

BECOMETHEPRODUCTIONSUCCESSORTOTHEi8

Exterior may

point to how

the production

car will look,

but the

interior? Not

so much