Boxster is in tune
with driver inputs
and the road below
The Porsche handles
supremely but is let
down by its engine
M40i’s 369lb ft of
torque is available
from just 1600rpmAlthough the
Boxster featured
an Individual drive
mode, working out
how to configure it was
difficult. None of our
testers could figure
it out.
BMW Z4 vs RIVALS COMPARISON
3 1 JULY 2019 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 47
Δ powerplant, mind. Despite its 354lb
ft being available from as low as
1700rpm, things don’t really start to
get going until 3500rpm or so. Plant
your foot below this point and the
delay between input and response as
the boost builds can be frustrating,
particularly if you’re not too hot on
y ou r sh i f t s a nd f i nd y ou r s e l f t r y i n g t o
power out of a corner a gear too high.
Get everything wound up, though,
and this engine pulls with an
alarming amount of savagery.
I mpr e s si v e a s t he A ud i i s i n
the wet, as the weather starts
to lift and the roads begin
to dry out, its appeal begins
to wane. You start to notice
just how numb and distant
the otherwise accurate
steering rack feels. You also realise
that while that all-weather traction is
a wonderful thing when it’s tipping
down, in the dry it translates to a
shortage of expressiveness that seems
at odds with the sorts of thrills you’d
e x p e c t f r om a d r op -t op s p or t s c a r. You
w ou ld n’t a c c u s e t he Z 4 of s u f fe r i n g
from such an affliction, though. Next
to the limpet-like Audi, the BMW
demands far more concentration to
drive quickly. You can feel its rear
end shimmying around as you power
through roughly surfaced or off-camber bends, while its thick-rimmed
steering wheel lends the impression
that you’re man-handling rather
than deftly guiding it through
corners. That’s not to say it doesn’t
change direction keenly, or that it
feels in any way primitive in the way
it handles, but there’s a distinctly
hairy-chested, street-fighter streak
to its dynamic attitude that’s difficult
not to take a shining to.
Admittedly, its body isn’t as tightly
c ont r ol le d a s t h at of t he A ud i a nd it
makes a greater show of its weight
through corners, but it’s no deal-
breaker. If anything, its supple, more
forgiving set-up makes the Z4 the
car you’d choose for long-distance
stints – and it certainly dispatched
the long drive up from London with
little bother.And while its 3.0-litre straight
six might not quite match the TT’s
five-pot for outright character or
performance, it’s the most responsive
of the two by a mile. It’s coupled
with a gearbox that’s seems happier
to respond to a tug of the paddle
shifters than the Audi’s twin-clutch
arrangement is, too. But even if your
concentration falters and you allow
the revs to drop off, its well of torque
is there as a safety net. All 369lb ft of
its muscle is available from 1600rpm,
a nd it fe e l s it. T h i s i s a n e n g i ne t h at ’s
happy to pull from any point in the
rev range, right up to the redline. ◊
‘Simon says it’s^ time^
we switched^ cars’
The
BMW’s iDrive
infotainment suite is
by far and away the best
system here. It’s slick,
easy to use and has
impressively clear
graphics.