For more than two decades BMW has been trying to build a roadster that'll take on the Porsche Cayman/Boxter and have it beat.
The new Z4 is BMW's latest effort to do that.
The new Z4 which BMW was developed through a joint project with Toyota and so it shares much of its underpinning with the upcoming Toyota Supra.
The Munich based firm says that the third generation Z4 is a reinterpretation of the classic roadster and it is sportier than ever.
"The new BMW Z4 fuses typical sports car dynamism with
emotion-packed design, an exclusive ambience and advanced equipment features.
Unadulterated driving pleasure meets state-of-the-art powertrain, chassis,
operating and connectivity technology." BMW says
The "emotion-packed design” was a bit controversial when BMW unveiled the production model at Pebble Beach earlier this year. The car had kept to the overall design cues from the concept car but it just didn't come out as good looking as the concept.
Nonetheless, it still evokes a lot of emotions whether good or
bad. I have come to appreciate the looks of the production car; BMW design has
been mundane and too predictable.
The fact that this new car looks like nothing else on the BMW range is a good thing I think. Especially like the front with the stacked design adaptive LED headlights which feature matrix technology.
At the touch of the button, you'll be able to lahla the fabric soft-top within ten seconds at speeds up to 50 km/h.
There'll be three engines to choose from, the four-cylinder engine
in the sDrive20i will push out 145 kW and 320 Nm. Like in all Z4s the power
will be sent to the rear wheels via an 8-speed Steptronic Sports transmission.
The sDrive30i which features the same four-pot engine in the sDrive20i, but with power cranked up to 145 kW and 400 Nm good for a dash to 100 km/h in 5.4 seconds.
The range-topper, the M40i features an in-line six engine with 250 kW and 500 Nm of torque. It will do 0-100 in 4.5 seconds and it tops out at 250 km/h.
To beat the Porsche the new Z4 has a low centre of gravity, “extremely rigid body structure and chassis mountings.” BMW has worked hard on the chassis to deliver what they call
In the M40i you get M Sport brakes, Adaptive Sport suspension, M Sport differential and high-performance tyres on 18-inch alloy wheels as standard.
Inside the new Z4 is both sporty and luxurious. It sports BMW latest iDrive system with optional BMW Live Cockpit Professional. Live Cockpit offers context-based and customisable graphics with two 10.25-inch displays.
The new Z4 will hit local shores in the first quarter of 2019.
