Tuners Take the BMW i8 to the Nurburgring, Get a Somewhat Embarrassing Result

Fast as it may look, a track car the BMW i8 is not.

At least until venerable BMW tuning house, AC Schnitzer, got its hands on one – well, sort of. For obvious reasons, the Aachen-based shop’s modest upgrades don’t affect the hybrid powertrain and instead focus on corner speed, which should have you managing your expectations already.

Replacing the factory wheels and energy saving rubber are AC Schnitzer’s 21-inch AC1 Lightweight forged alloy wheels wrapped in 245 section front tires and 285 section rears, offering up a significantly larger, and stickier contact patch that BMW intended.

SEE ALSO: The BMW i8 Roadster Will Debut in November

The suspension is also lowered by 25 mm in the front and 20 mm in back, which works with the new three-piece carbon diffuser and carbon side skirts to smooth airflow and create underbody downforce. There’s also a carbon front splitter and rear spoiler providing traditional downforce to the nose and tail.

Regardless of the upgrades, the i8 was never intended to be a fast car, but a sporty harbinger of the future, which is a polite way of calling it slow. Even with TCR International-pro Markus Oestreich on the pedals the revised i8 only managed an 8:19.8, which is admittedly faster than an E46 M3, an R32 GT-R and the much revered Cobalt SS.