SPORTS COUPES: BMW i8 vs Porsche Cayman GTS vs BMW M4

摘要

A trio of rear-drive cars here, two of them with your enthusiast's preferred mechanical hardware, the third with something quite radical and no less promising for that. BMW's M4 coupe is a traditional front-engined, rear-drive machine powered by a 425bhp twin-turbo 3.0-litre straight six, and the Porsche Cayman GTS is midengined and propelled by a naturally aspirated 335bhp 3.4-litre flat six. The i8, however, is twin-engined, the 228bhp 1.5-litre turbocharged triple sitting behind its cabin boosted by a 129bhp electric motor driving the front wheels to make the plug-in hybrid, carbonfibre-bodied i8 all-wheel drive. The i8 is new to our Handling Day, but previous editions of the Cayman and M3 have been front-runners or outright winners. So although these three are far from the most potent cars here, two of them have very positive form.