In the beginning there was the BMW Z4 Coupe. From its automotive loins has spawned its successor: the BMW Z4 Roadster. With a big, fancy coming out party scheduled on January 11th at the 2009 North American International Auto Show, the vehicle’s mantra, “More power, more efficiency, and more comfort.“ (As opposed to BMW’s second mantra choice, “Less power, less efficiency, and less comfort.“)
(more photos of the new Z4 after the jump)
Sure, the vehicle features the same 3.0-liter, inline-six engine as its predecessor — but the similarity ends there. This baby uses twin turbochargers and direct injection to breathe 45 more ponies into the same engine block for a whopping total of 300 horsepower! With an optional seven-speed double clutch transmission, this automotive baby is no stranger to ripping off 0-60 before you can say, “ five seconds flat (which continues all the way to an electronically-limited 130 mph).
Like Homo erectus slowly walking upright with an opposable thumb, the Z4 Roadster’s equivalent-to-creating-fire is its more swept-back headlamps and front air dam details. Hood creases make the Z4 seem like it’s grown more than the 5.8 inches. New tail-lamps and a less aggressive ducktail harvest a new long and lean look. But the big evolutionary leap is the two-piece electrohydraulically retractable hardtop in lightweight aluminum shell construction. Just like God saying, “Let there be light!” the hardtop both opens and closes to its full automatic grandeur in a mere 20 seconds.
Leave a Reply