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Yes, I took a picture of a girl taking a picture of a girl in the i8.Hey, she’s about half way to doing the Asian squat. |  |
The carbon fiber is exposed everywhere on the i8. I can think of two reasons: to show off the carbon fiber and to reduce weight by not using paint.
The i8 has a range extender engine, so the tailpipes poke out the bottom of the car. Yup, the bottom of the car is mostly a flat panel to reduce aerodynamic drag.
BMW had a little buffet thing going on too, but a pair of doormen looking guys at the gap in the hedges appeared to be checking credentials to get in. I’ve always been more of a BMW guy, but Mercedes wins this battle of the food at the auto show.
In the Lexus booth were these AMAZING macarons (gluten free even) from “the little door” based out of downtown LA. I went with the chocolate ones. If you love macarons, swing by their store.
Something strange has occurred, some type of paradox in the sport sedan landscape. Lexus has been touted as making the best entry level luxury sport sedans currently available. Better than BMW. Even Cadillac has been said to make a better driver’s car by some over BMW. Ten years ago, this would have been unthinkable. What happened?! And Lexus had free awesome macarons where I didn’t get any food from BMW. Hey, sometimes the stomach does the thinking. Anyway, F-Sport is the name for the Lexus performance goodies.
A stiff chassis is a requirement for good handling and ride quality. The IS350 has this 3-point brace that appears to tie the front subframe to the chassis. In the chase for improved fuel economy, a lot of flat-bottom paneling is used to clean up the aerodynamics.
