BMW is reportedly going to give itself an awesome 100th anniversary present in form of a new super car called the i9. You’d expect such an important car to be M-badged, but given the success of the i8 – and the fact that hybrids are now cooler than supersports – it is going to be an ‘i’ car.
According to Auto Motor und Sport, the BMW i9 was first supposed to be called the i10, but Hyundai owns that moniker and uses it for a little hatchback. So BMW settled on i9, which actually sounds kinda nicer than i10.
In any case, the 2016 BMW i9 should be a beefed-up version of the i8, powered by a similar petrol-electric hybrid but with more oomph than the i8’s 326 horsepower. It would be great if BMW swaps the three-cylinder unit for a straight-six twin-turbo, and then boost it with two electric motors. But that’s too fantastical.
Visually, BMW i9 should look like a bigger, more serious i8. Previewed here in this unofficial rendering, the i9 looks closer to M-branded Bimmers, namely the M4, than their i-badged cars.
Via AutoMotorSport
