Lumma Design Draws Tuning Concepts for BMW i8 Coupe and i3 Hatch

You didn't think that BMW's first i-series models, the i8 hybrid coupe and the electric i3 hatchback, would avoid the touch of the tuning industry, did you? While seen here in rendered concept form, Lumma Design's CLR i8 and CLR i3 point to what we should expect in the near future once the cars begin to arrive in the hands of their new owners.

For the 357hp (362PS) i8, the German tuner proposes a full carbon-fiber kit comprising a front spoiler, side skirts and rear bumper with diffuser along with a tailor-made sticker set with lime-green accents and matte-black, spider-style alloy wheels.

The CLR i3's appearance is modified with a front spoiler lip, a specially designed hood and side skirts, all of which are all made of high-strength and ultra-light carbon. It too gains a different set of rims.

Lumma Design did not say if and when it will introduce these parts for the BMW models.

BBR Mazda MX-5 Turbo or TRD-Tuned Toyota GT86?

Both the Mazda MX-5 and Toyota GT86 (Scion FR-S) suffer from having too little power, whichever one you go for. This is apparent whatever sporty car you climb out of before driving either of them, but as the EVO video posted below tries to illustrate, there’s no harm in trying to improve these cars to really make the best of their chassis.

First off, the Toyota can be had with a list of factory updates, in the form of a TRD kit. However, that does nothing to up the power and torque of the GT86, the car’s two main quibbles. It does address the grip problem brought about by the use of 17-inch Prius tires in the basic car by swapping them out for larger 18-inch forged rims with much better rubber.

Still not fast enough, but that’s where the MX-5, tuned by BBR, comes in with 70 hp more than the stock GT86, courtesy of a turbo kit. It’s a car that has been slightly neglected ever since the Toyobaru came out, but as the folloowing comparison illustrates, in this slightly-tuned guise, it’s actually a better choice (for the money).