The Continental: A Faster BMW i8, Up With a Favorite VW, and an AMG Van

 

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Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental.

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The web is abuzz with rumors of the next-gen BMW M3 being powered by a plug-in hybrid powertrain. Sure, BMW is evaluating every option and possibility. But as to a hybridized M3, I’d just say: Don’t hold your breath. This counts doubly so when you consider that there is an awesome hybridized BMW already: the i8. Fitted with a 228-horsepower 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine and a 129-horsepower electric motor, it makes a total of 357 horsepower, it’s quick, but the visuals are what give it supercar cred. I drove one a few weeks ago and hadn’t gotten so many looks since testing a McLaren-Mercedes SLR. The car gets universal thumbs-ups, both from enthusiasts and from the “green” crowd.

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But alas, while it looks like a supercar, the i8 doesn’t quite match the performance of, say, an Audi R8 or an up-level Porsche 911. It’s more difficult to get it to rotate into corners, and it runs out of battery juice on the track or during prolonged high-speed travel, leaving the bulk of the work to the three-banger buzzing behind the driver. Those issues can be fixed, as BMW proves with the official pace car for Formula E racing series. Here is an i8 that is faster than the production car, both in cornering and in a straight line. The pace car is fitted with 20-inch alloys on Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, and manually adjustable Bilstein performance dampers working within a suspension that’s been lowered by 0.6 inch. It’s got performance brakes from the M3 GT4, the aerodynamics have been tweaked, and both the battery pack and the electric motor are upgraded. This far more agile i8 cranks out around 380 horsepower, and despite the FIA roll cage and an inductive charging system, which adds roughly 30 pounds, it comes in slightly lighter than the production car.

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The inductive charging system, previewed on this pace car, was co-developed with Qualcomm. With 7.2 kW charging capability, the battery back can be replenished in one hour. BMW won’t confirm anything, but it’s not far off to speculate that this could be the precursor of a faster, meaner production version of the i8 widely expected to eventually join the i lineup.

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Moving Up

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I like a lot of VWs, but my favorite one is the mini Up. Ultra-clever in its simplicity and functionality, we hear the car’s gestation was quite a bit different for the design team. It took Walter de’Silva quite a bit of convincing to get CEO Martin Winterkorn’s green light for the funky little car. The result, we’d argue, was worth the effort, but the Up does lack power in a big way. It comes with a naturally aspirated 1.0-liter three, rated at 60 or 75 horsepower. That’s enough to move around town, but it’s not much fun on the open road. Three years ago, we were allowed to drive the prototype of a turbocharged Up around Wolfsburg, and that was the last we heard of it. Well, at long last, the turbocharged Up has arrived—in Brazil, where power is paramount. The Brazilian-market Up TSI produces 105 horsepower and 122 lb-ft of torque, enough for a 0-62 mph time of 8.4 seconds (nearly 5 seconds quicker than the 75-hp version) and a top speed of 114 mph. As to a European market launch, VW is busy calculating. I think it would be a great modern-day GTI, and it is no coincidence that its power-to-weight ratio is virtually identical with the GTI version of the first-generation Golf. And don’t forget that the Up’s spiritual predecessor, the Lupo, was offered not only with various diesel engines, but also in a 125-hp GTI model.

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AMG Goes Vannin’?

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Moving to a slightly different market segment, Mercedes-Benz has discovered that its large V-class people mover, an upmarket version of the U.S.-bound Metris, is frequently ordered with high levels of equipment; over half of the customers opt for the costly but chic Avantgarde trim level. Now Daimler has added an AMG Line to the V-class . Stopping short of a full AMG model, or even an AMG Sport, the line consists of a package with distinct front and rear fascias, side skirts, 19-inch wheels, and a lowered sports suspension.

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• 2013 Volkswagen Up Tested: Up with Volk, Indeed

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• 2015 BMW M3 Manual Long-Term Test Update: A Highway Star, But an M3?

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• BWM i8 Research: Full Pricing, Specs, Reviews, and More

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“The V-class has redefined the segment,” says Volker Mornhinweg, head of Mercedes-Benz vans. The former AMG chief has a point. We know the V-class has engineers and designers at Volkswagen spinning. Especially since the T6 Multivan, launched earlier this year, is nothing more than an update of the T5, a fact that its conservative styling, unfortunately, seems to underscore instead of hide.

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