The BMW i8 has spaceship looks, but the presence of
a hybrid powertrain has always rubbed a few people, who’d much prefer to see
the supercar looks with a more traditional supercar powertrain like, say, a V8,
the wrong way.
Well, here’s a V8-powered i8; it is dubbed the i8
GTR, was built by Hamofa Motor Sport last year and ditches the road car’s
hybrid powertrain in favor of a race-prepped, naturally-aspirated 4.0-liter V8
with 540 HP. This engine was formerly used by Z4 GTE and GT3 race cars, so it
is right at home at a circuit.
Now, it’s worth pointing out that, while the racer
certainly looks like an i8, it really is not. That’s because under the skin it
utilizes a bespoke tube-frame chassis developed by French firm Solution F.
Which comes as no big surprise as true racers don’t really have much in common
with their road-legal lookalikes other than, well, the looks because marketing.
Anyhow, this “i8” weighs a mere 1,100
kg. Factor in its power figure, and what you end up with is a very fast car.
More importantly, though, the high-revving V8 engine sounds absolutely
glorious, as befits a true supercar.
