Rendering Comparisions: 2014 BMW i8

Rendering Comparisons: This was a fun one so I wanted to show a little bit more of how I come up with my ideas. You'll notice 3 before and afters below. This is something I may do from now on in these comparison posts, but it takes a lot longer to set up! So let's see how this one goes ... :)

With the seductive BMW i8 finally getting down to business with details and pricing, BMW looks to have a bona fide hit on their hands.

Comparison of M6 Donor with my M6/EfficientDynamics Concept chop

Comparison of EfficientDynamics Concept Donor with my M6/EfficientDynamics Concept chop

Comparison of Production i8 with my M6/EfficientDynamics Concept chop

I really liked the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept but was doubtful if it would ever be produced. I figured this vehicle was a test bed for new tech, with the design ideas presented to "trickle down" into the product stable in future vehicles. I wondered then if we'd see some of the design cues on the next 6 Series Coupe - which would be the nearest size car in size and function.

Much to my surprise the revised, renamed and gorgeous Z4 ended up with a lot of the design cues, especially with the trademark "twin gills". This wasn't enough for me though as I still wanted to see how the design would look "wrapped over" the bones of the 6 Series coupe. So, taking matters into my own hands, this was the result.

Now that I've been ogling over the new i8 for a few weeks now I went back to my rendering, done over 4 years ago, and was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of my thoughts and ideas translated pretty well to the production i8 look and feel. Good stuff :)

All source photos copyright original owners

Rendering Comparison: 2014 Volkswagen GTI MCE

Rendering Comparison: So I'm watching last week all of the wonderful images bubbling out of the New York Autoshow and I see that VW is giving the Golf and GTI a nice makeover. I'm impressed it is getting a fresh so quickly.

I was never thrilled with the 2010 GTI refresh as I didn't think the completely blacked out lower grille insert was a great look. I posted that while I loved the car, it would have looked less "heavy" with a color matched lower grille insert.

Now looking at this new GTI refresh in more detail, it slaps me in the face - the color-matched lower grille. Maybe they read my mind - j/k :) It was a quick little chop, but one I was pleasantly surprised to see was actually spot on! :)

Confirmed Edits:

Chop	Description
Grille Change	Re-colored the grille insert to match body color

All source photos copyright original owners

Rendering Comparison: 2013 Chevrolet Traverse MCE

Rendering Comparison: Welcome to my new segment on AR where I'll be comparing my renderings against the new production vehicles. This will mostly apply to MCEs that I speculate on from time to time.

So let's get down to business with the original vehicle and my rendering. Then we'll see how close I got to the real deal.

I did the MCE (show above in blue) early after the release of the original Traverse (shown above in silver). I found the rear end lacking details so I redesigned it to align more visually with the Equinox.

When I saw Chevrolet actual MCE for 2013 (see below) I was blown away buy how close many of the alterations I did were actually made!

Confirmed Edits:

Chop	Description
Tailgate	Moved tailgate handle to bottom and grafted the license place area from that of the Equinox
Tail Lights	Added clear lens to outer light housing.
Rear Bumper	After moving license plate up into tail gate I smoothed over the bumper cover for a unified look

What do you think - pretty close huh? :)

All source photos copyright original owners