Volume 2 Issue 1 - Automobile Association Philippines

TEST DRIVES
BMW Z4
The Roadster
Redux
BMW Z4 3.0i SDrive
STORY and PHOTOS: Tito Hermoso
tradition of the purist English sports cars,
the Z4 with folding metal roof today is a far
bigger, more refined, luxurious and far more
powerful a car, even if it just barely ticks the
right boxes of what defines a sports car. It’s
more SL Mercedes than SLK.
New again
The latest generation of the Z4 is again
completely new. If the first Z4 was a sports
car with a comfortable ride, the latest takes
it further – in the comfort stakes. Again, it
does not lack for individual style even if the
front kidney grille had to be restyled, along
with the rest of the car, to accommodate
new EU regulations for pedestrian safety. As
in BMW’s motto of Joy through Expression,
the interior appointments are tasteful but
not vulgar over the top. The exterior’s
flowing flutes and curves are pure and they
never give you the impression that it was
designed by a dysfunctional committee
under the dictates of cliché.
Looking like a sports car
Long hood, short deck, seats two,
low roof. Coined in the 60’s, it is the
quintessential definition of a sports car. The
America of the muscle car and pony car
slavishly followed this formula, establishing
de facto. Nothing could be farther from the
truth.
The truth is something else
The original sports cars were small,
short of wheelbase and rather low. It was
also lighter than a sedan of the same size, as
sports cars then, eschewed the metal roof in
favor of a lighter folding canvas one. Think
60’s MG and Triumph. But MG’s, Austin-
Healey’s and Triumphs needed the stamina
of triathletes and the indestructibility of a
POW to drive them, survive them, never
mind enjoy them. We have the celebrity
superstar Jaguar XK-E to thank for
changing the notion of the sports car into
today’s car with a long hood, short deck and
low headroom.
Party popper
There was a time when convertibles and
sports cars, considered more as toys rather
than transport, almost went the way of
the dinosaur. In the Ralph Nader inspired
consumer protectionist late 70s, a slew of
crash safety, fuel economy and pollution
limiting statues in the world’s biggest auto
nation were threatening to take the fun out
or motoring. Cars were to become tools for
transport and having fun was bad for the
health.
The Savior
After a generation or two of lack
luster motoring, Technology successfully
reconciled all the conflicting priorities of
safety, emissions, economy with fun. Once
relegated to museums, the quintessential
post-war open top English sports car was, in
balmy California, reincarnated as the Mazda
Miata in 1989. It was like a seminal spring
as long hibernating passions for sports cars
and open top motoring came alive again.
The roadster continues to have its
appeal, though sometimes decried as
diminished, with the sports car purists; as
if they had no other choice. Young blades,
enamored with the vintage and romantic
notions of freedom and style were the usual
suspects. But the biggest “new” generation
for the roadster were the Baby Boomers
entering into mid-life. They were the first
of the car generation who can afford to
live or re-live their youth today, without
abandoning retirement’s creature comforts
that their aging joints and bones depend on.
The latest
We look at the latest Z4 as a refinement
and perhaps, retirement of what the 1997
Z3 stood for. While the Z3 was an entry
level sports car with a basic fabric roof in the
Back to the reality of illusion
On a typical sports car road – empty,
winding and appropriate for some wind in
the hair – the steering/suspension revolves
around your bum as responses do not
suppress a keen driver’s appreciation for
the intuitive laws of physics – which make
it thoroughly enjoyable. Seating only two,
roadsters are, by definition selfish in their
pleasures. So is the Z4 an ideal mix between
an out and out sports car and a cruiser
capable muscle car? Perhaps. Still, one has to
drive to derive full utility of its suspension
and electronic dynamic aids. But onlookers
have one advantage over the driver. Those
onlookers can enjoy admiring the looks,
even it its just for a moment.
20 AQ MAGAZINE ACTIVE LIFESTYLE ACTIVE LIFESTYLE AQ MAGAZINE 21