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Translogic 153: 2015 BMW i8

The 2015 BMW i8 is the second model in the Bavarian automaker's eco-friendly i-branded lineup. The i8's plug-in hybrid powertrain combines a turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine with a 96-kilowatt electric motor to make 357 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. Together, this gas-electric mechanical duo is capable of propelling the groundbreaking carbon-fiber sports coupe from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 4.2 seconds.
Join Translogic host Jonathon Buckley as he heads to Santa Monica, CA for a chance to drive the all-new BMW i8.

2016 BMW M3 gains new colors, LED taillights

The BMW 3 Series gets a few new models and some significant mechanical tweaks for its recently announced 2016 refresh. At the same time, the Bavarian brand is taking the opportunity to make some much more minor adjustments to the M3, too. BMW didn't mention the M3's changes in its announcement of the 3 Series refresh, but company spokesperson Hector Arellano-Belloc explained the updates to Autoblog. On the outside, the sport sedan now comes with full LED taillights, and the exterior is available with new colors from BMW Individual: Smoked Topaz Metallic and Champagne Quartz Metallic. The shades join Tanzanite Blue Metallic and Azurite Black Metallic from the brand's bespoke division. Under the hood, everything is the same with a twin-turbo, 3.0-liter inline-six engine making 425 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque. Inside, the M3 gains the improved navigation system from the 3 Series that features over-the-air map upgrades. There's more chrome trim around the interior, as well. "Given how new it is, the changes to the M3 are minimal," said Arellano-Belloc to Autoblog. However, the tweaks show that BMW is trying to keep the performance sedan at the top of its game.

Is the skill of rev matching being lost to computers?

If the ability to drive a vehicle equipped with a manual gearbox is becoming a lost art, then the skill of being able to match revs on downshifts is the stuff they would teach at the automotive equivalent of the Shaolin Temple. The usefulness of rev matching in street driving is limited most of the time – aside from sounding cool and impressing your friends. But out on a race track or the occasional fast, windy road, its benefits are abundantly clear. While in motion, the engine speed and wheel speed of a vehicle with a manual transmission are kept in sync when the clutch is engaged (i.e. when the clutch pedal is not being pressed down). However, when changing gear, that mechanical link is severed briefly, and the synchronization between the motor and wheels is broken. When upshifting during acceleration, this isn't much of an issue, as there's typically not a huge disparity between engine speed and wheel speed as a car accelerates. Rev-matching downshifts is the stuff they would teach at the automotive equivalent of the Shaolin Temple. But when slowing down and downshifting – as you might do when approaching a corner at a high rate of speed – that gap of time caused by the disengagement of the clutch from the engine causes the revs to drop. Without bringing up the revs somehow to help the engine speed match the wheel speed in the gear you're about to use, you'll typically get a sudden jolt when re-engaging the clutch as physics brings everything back into sync. That jolt can be a big problem when you're moving along swiftly, causing instability or even a loss of traction, particularly in rear-wheel-drive cars. So the point of rev matching is to blip the throttle simultaneously as you downshift gears in order to bring the engine speed to a closer match with the wheel speed before you re-engage the clutch in that lower gear, in turn providing a much smoother downshift. When braking is thrown in, you get heel-toe downshifting, which involves some dexterity to use all three pedals at the same time with just two feet – clutch in, slow the car while revving, clutch out. However, even if you're aware of heel-toe technique and the basic elements of how to perform a rev match, perfecting it to the point of making it useful can be difficult.