After spending a few days with a BMW i8, we can confirm the Germans have done their best to ensure this car is difficult to overturn. However, no piece of engineering can keep a vehicle from flipping when the driver hits an obstacle that acts as a ramp.
This is what appears to have happened in Mexico, where a journalist has reportedly put this i8 onto its roof during a test drive. Pay close attention to the front end damage, especially underneath the car and you’ll notice the marks of what seems to be just such an impact.
Alas, the aperture isn’t exactly what you’ll call enough to allow the occupants of the vehicle to easily remove themselves from the car. The CFRP structure of the vehicle allows emergency responders to cut into it, perhaps easier than they would with a steel structure, but this is another story for another time.
As for this i8 itself, the comprehensive damage it appears to have sustained should mean the car is a write-off.
Images via: Wrecked Exotics
This is what appears to have happened in Mexico, where a journalist has reportedly put this i8 onto its roof during a test drive. Pay close attention to the front end damage, especially underneath the car and you’ll notice the marks of what seems to be just such an impact.
The doors are an issue here
Once again, BMW engineers have designed the doors, which use a CFRP inner structure and an aluminum skin, in such a way that they offer serious protection in the case on an impact. And while BMW doesn’t mention any pyrotechnical emergency system for an overturn situation (such as that used by the Mercedes SLS), we can see the shape of the car itself allows the door to open.Alas, the aperture isn’t exactly what you’ll call enough to allow the occupants of the vehicle to easily remove themselves from the car. The CFRP structure of the vehicle allows emergency responders to cut into it, perhaps easier than they would with a steel structure, but this is another story for another time.
As for this i8 itself, the comprehensive damage it appears to have sustained should mean the car is a write-off.
Images via: Wrecked Exotics