As if owning BMW’s i8 plug-in hybrid sports car didn’t already put you in Mother Nature’s good graces, BMW has gone and chopped off its roof, bringing i8 owners that much more in touch with the environment in which they so selflessly help preserve.
Finally making its debut at the L.A. Auto Show on Wednesday, the BMW i8 Roadster brings with it a number of incremental changes to the futuristic German coupe including 374 horsepower (17 up from the previous 357 hp), more range thanks to a new battery, and some redesigned 20-inch wheels—wheels that shave an entire kilogram of unsprung weight per corner.
Speaking of weight, the i8 Roadster is 60 kilograms fatter than its Coupe sister, but makes up for it with the ability to go completely topless in 15 seconds at the touch of a button. Don’t think BMW has merely taken an i8 Coupe, sawed off the roof, and strapped on a mechanical cloth hat, though. The i8 Roadster boasts its own suspension and damper tuning along with tweaked stability control settings.
The plug-in Bimmer and its convertible counterpart are powered by the same 231 horsepower, 1.5-liter three-pot gas engine coupled to an improved hybrid motor that provides the remaining 143 hp. With a top speed of 155 mph, the droptop i8 sprints to 62 mph in 4.6 seconds while the Coupe gets it done a fraction of a second faster at 4.4 seconds.
On display at this week’s auto show in Los Angeles, the new BMW i8 Coupe and Roadster will be available to order May 2018.
