Car India – August 2019

Z-Tail

Therapy

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Story:JimGorde Photography:SanjayRaikar

ITTINGTHECOUNTRYSIDEWHENTHERAINSTAKEABREAK

isa refreshingexperience,tosaytheveryleast.Thegrassisgreeneroneither

side,thehillsareblanketedincloudswhilethecrispairheavywithmoisture

feelsheaven-sentaftertheappallinglevelsofpollutioninthecity.Thewhole

experienceispositivelytherapeutic.

Makingmywayoutofthe

confines,headsturnleft,rightand

centreontheredtwo-doorI’min,whileexcitedchildren

pointandpullouttheirphonestosnapupthenew

BMWZ4beforeit’soutofsight.ThenewZ4roadster

comesabouthalfa decadeafteritspredecessormade

waveshereinIndia.TheoldsDrive35iwasalsoa

beautifulstraight-sixsportsconvertiblewitha low-slung

designandcompactproportions.Toocompactforsome

andalsoquitethirsty.ThenewZ4addressesallthose

shortcomingsandtakesthegameforwardfortheMunich

marque.Thiscomesata timewheneveryoneisnotjust

downsizingbutalsodown-speeding—loweringoverall

enginespeedthroughthegearstomaintainoptimumfuelefficiencyand

lowerexhaustemissions.But,inthissegment,that’ssecondary.Isn’tit?

Whenyouwanta roadster,youwantsomethingthatwillrelaxyouaswell

asturnuptheexcitement.Tofulfiltheformer,it mustbesmooth,well-

sprungandresponsive.Tosatisfythelatter,it mustbequick,sharp,and

evenmoreresponsive.Thesolutiontothat,asBMWhavesoeloquently

shownuswiththeM5,isproperlycalibrateddrivemodes;twocarsinone.

AndtheZ4,inthisM40iguise,isjustaboutasgoodasthatone.

Atveryfirstglance,theZ4looksbreathtakinglybrilliant.There’sa sense

ofmaturitywitha hintofbottledexcitementandthattriggerssomething

withinyou.Itjustdoes.It’semotiveandlookslikeit’sbeenthrougha fair

bitoflifeandcomebackrefreshedandbetterthanever.Beforeweforget,

H

Road Test | BMW Z4 M40i

88 CAR INDIA^ August 2019 http://www.carindia.in