It is not exactly a secret that BMW wants to launch a sportier version of the i8 hybrid sports car. The i8 was a first effort, a very successful one at that, to see if high-performance hybrid motoring is something people might be interested in. Now they want to go bigger and better. 

The company’s top brass have already said there will be no i8M because they don’t want to mix the eco-minded ‘i’ brand with those power-crazed nutters at ‘M’ GmbH. They didn’t, however, say anything about an ’S’ version, so that’s what the hot i8 will be called.

Pitched as a 100th anniversary gift for the brand, BMW i8S will feature a sporty exterior with exclusive visual features, a revised, stiffer suspension, wider tires than those skinny ones on the standard i8, and beefier brakes. All these will take away from the car’s excellent fuel efficiency, but they are needed to cope with the extra power they are planning to give it.

BMW i8S will get an upgraded version of the same hybrid powertrain in the normal model where the 1.5 liter three-cylinder unit is replaced with either a four-pot turbo or a straight-six. BMW engineers are thinking about something in the neighborhood of 500 PS as the combine dower output. That’ll give the i8S the ability to sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in a supercar-busting 3.5 seconds.

Via Automobile