2019-10-01_CAR_UK

Really not

fussed

either way

BMW Z4 M40i

Month 2

The story so far

Soft-top Supra twin with big-

chested straight-six, short chassis,

clever diff. Equivocal reaction at

launch; six months to set us straight

+Great throttle response;

refinement; everyday usability

• Odd proportions; is it exciting
  enough?

Price £49,185 (£53,865 as

tested) Performance 2998cc

turbocharged straight-six, 335bhp,

4.6sec 0-62mph, 155mph (limited)

Efficiency 33.2mpg (official),

30.0mpg (tested), 165g/km CO2

Energy cost 20.9p per mile Miles

this month 1439 Total miles 6185

Logbook

No love here.

By Ben Whitworth

I normally rack up 1000 miles a

month in my long-term test cars,

but the 356 miles accrued last

month and this month’s 687 signal

my lukewarm feelings about the

Cupra. Given its 27mpg average fuel

economy, our other Seat – a languid

diesel Altea XL that never returns

anything less than 48mpg – more

often than not gets the nod.

How is it falling so short? It’s

certainly quick in a straight line,

The Z4 had already been here at
CAR for a couple of weeks before I
could actually get behind its wheel
for the first time. Other people
had been having a fine old time in
the BMW roadster, but my time in
it got off to a terrible start: at the
first press of the ignition button a
message flashed up on the iDrive

but it feels very buttoned-down. No

ferocity, no fun, little character. Fuel

bills aside, there’s nothing to dry the

mouth and dampen the palms. It

hasn’t even got a nickname. Since

my daughters could talk, every car

that’s spent time with us has been

given a name. Not so the Cupra.

All of which is disappointing.

I’ve liked Seats (and I’ve yet to find

a reason to think of this as a Cupra

rather than a Seat) well enough

to have purchased two; our Altea

was preceded by an Alhambra. I’ve

usually preferred Martorell’s output

to its Wolfsburg and Mladá Boleslav

cousins. Sadly not this time around.

@benwhitworth

budging, just like the steady rainfall

that had set in for the day. There

was no response from the wipers

whichever position the stalk was in,

so I abandoned ship from the BMW

and drove a more reliable MGF to

work instead (not a sentence you

hear every day).

The local BMW dealer, Sycamore

Peterborough, was very busy and

so was I, and with more rain on the

way my already-flimsy resolve for

investigative consumer journalism

deserted me and I called BMW’s

press office for speedier help. The

Z4 went away to the workshop for

diagnosis, and the fault transpired

to be a loose connection, a

straightforward fix.

Before I got my Jonah’s hands

on it, the Z4 had already been

busy at CAR, pressed into service

in the July issue’s Shortlist feature

where it didn’t fare too favourably

against the Toyota Supra (its

non-identical twin), the Alpine A110

and the Porsche 718, storming to an

emphatic fourth place.

But that first drive before

the rains came was a pleasant

one – roof down, stereo on,

straight-six turning lazily in eighth

gear – leading me to suspect the

Z4’s strongest appeal may be found

at low speeds rather than high. It’s

been an atypical scenario, having a

sports car and not driving it, but I’ve

been making the most of it (and the

sunshine, bordering on heatwave)

since its return. More in-depth

driving impressions soon.

@JamesTaylorCAR

Cupra Ateca 2.0 TSI

Month 4

Price £35,915 Performance

1984cc turbocharged four-

cylinder, 296bhp, 5.2sec

0-62mph, 153mph Efficiency

34.0mpg (official) 27.1mpg

(tested), 168g/km CO2 Energy

cost 21p per mile Miles this

month 687 Total miles 3474

Logbook

The story so far

Dynamic but dull. Like a Golf R

without a gleam in its eye

+Versatile; easy to live with;

impressive LED lights

• Still can’t get above 28mpg no
  matter how sedately it’s driven

screen warning of a windscreen

wiper fault.

I adopted my tried-and-tested

strategy in the event of any kind of

error message, which is to ignore it

and fervently hope that it goes away

by itself. Halfway home, it did.

Next morning, however, the

message was back and wasn’t

Our cars

What’s less than swish?

Wipers that don’t work

Cue days of uninterrupted rain. By James Taylor

I have a

Service Partner?

OCTOBER 2019 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK 131

It hasn’t even

got a nickname.

Tut, tut