Maybe you're one of these people who regard the BMW i8 as a nice experiment, a silly three-cylinder hybrid designed to steal some Tesla sales, but not a real performance car like the BMW M4. You would be wrong.
Granted, I've always held the i8 in high regard, but even I didn't expect this outcome to happen. German pub AutoBild pitted the i8 against its more established (besides the new name, anyway) and more conventional sibling the M4.
Though the i8 has a weight advantage of nearly 150 pounds, most people would probably expect the 425 horsepower M4 to come out on top. According to BMW themselves, the M4 has the quicker zero to 60 mph time — 3.9 seconds to the i8's 4.2 It's a no brainer, right?
Except the i8 wins here, handily. It's not even close. There are some things to consider here. The i8 has the traction advantage, being all-wheel drive. The M4 is a manual, not a DCT, so it will shift a bit slower. And maybe the M4's driver didn't launch as well as he could have.
Still, the i8 has an impressive showing here. Score one for electric torque, huh?