Photo: BMW on Facebook
What you see in the featured image isn’t actually the all-new Z4, but a one-off that signals the imminent return of the small BMW roadster. The concept, apparently, promises that “the road will never be the same” starting August 17.
The date matches nicely with the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, which will come to a conclusion three days after the BMW world premiere. Think of the Concept Z4 Roadster or whatever it will be called as something similar to what the automaker did with the bite-the-back-of-your-hand beautiful Concept 8 Series. And the silhouette of the vehicle looks promising.
Sure the nose is pointier than what we’ve seen up to this point on prototypes. Then there are the two buttresses behind the two headrests, which won’t make it to production. The essentials, however, appear to be there and the concept is the clearest indication yet the new Z4 is coming.
Developed in partnership with Toyota, the 2018 BMW Z4 will be a strict two-seat design underpinned by a rear-wheel-drive platform. Going soft top suggests BMW is eyeing lightness to the detriment of the former generation’s metal folding roof. There’s no other way around it, but the next generation of the Z4 is more of a driver-oriented Porsche 718 Boxster rival than a competitor for the luxury-oriented Mercedes-Benz SLC.
Identified under the G29 codename, the 2018 BMW Z4 will get both a six-speed manual and an eight-speed automatic transmission. As per a model codes list we’ve talked about in an older story, the engine options for the newcomer start with the sDrive20i and top with the full-on M40i.
The entry-level offering will pride itself on just shy of 200 ponies. The Z4 M40i, by comparison, will employ the B58 3.0-liter twin-scroll turbo inline-6 found in the X3 M40i, tuned to develop as many as 355 horsepower (360 PS) and 369 pound-feet (500 Nm) of torque from 1,450 to 4,800 rpm.
Sure the nose is pointier than what we’ve seen up to this point on prototypes. Then there are the two buttresses behind the two headrests, which won’t make it to production. The essentials, however, appear to be there and the concept is the clearest indication yet the new Z4 is coming.
Developed in partnership with Toyota, the 2018 BMW Z4 will be a strict two-seat design underpinned by a rear-wheel-drive platform. Going soft top suggests BMW is eyeing lightness to the detriment of the former generation’s metal folding roof. There’s no other way around it, but the next generation of the Z4 is more of a driver-oriented Porsche 718 Boxster rival than a competitor for the luxury-oriented Mercedes-Benz SLC.
Identified under the G29 codename, the 2018 BMW Z4 will get both a six-speed manual and an eight-speed automatic transmission. As per a model codes list we’ve talked about in an older story, the engine options for the newcomer start with the sDrive20i and top with the full-on M40i.
The entry-level offering will pride itself on just shy of 200 ponies. The Z4 M40i, by comparison, will employ the B58 3.0-liter twin-scroll turbo inline-6 found in the X3 M40i, tuned to develop as many as 355 horsepower (360 PS) and 369 pound-feet (500 Nm) of torque from 1,450 to 4,800 rpm.
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