Close but no cigar; if I had to pick a tagline for this article, that would be it. Testing is still on-going for the new BMW Z4 but BMW has revealed some details about it as it undergoes fine-tuning on drive and suspension systems at the Autodrome de Miramas, BMW’s test centre in France.
Not sure why they still have to keep the Z4 camouflaged since they’ve already revealed the car last year but it’s said that the flagship model of the new roadster will be embodied by the Z4 M40i.Â
BMW claims that it will be packed with a new, “extremely powerful” in-line 6-cylinder engine (most likely a 3.0-litre twin-scroll turbo unit), lowered sports suspension with electronically-controlled dampers, a newly developed front axle, M light alloy wheels with mixed tyres, an M sports brake system and an electronically-controlled rear differential.
The Head of Application Suspension, Jos van As, said, “The high level of body stiffness and the very rigid suspension attachment provide the perfect basis for a set-up that guarantees the performance qualities of a genuine sports car in terms of steering precision as well as longitudinal and transverse acceleration.”
The Miramas test centre has been at the centre of BMW’s development and testing of new models for more than 30 years. The test facility comprises a long asphalt oval and a motorway ring road for high-speed tests as well as slalom, serpentine and circular tracks and a number of handling courses and circuits featuring highly diverse types of surface.
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