BMW's Z4 Roadster Takes Shape - Would You Take It Over a Supra Or A Boxster?

That grill rendering looks horrendous.

Not impressed. Hopefully the supra looks better.

The grill looks like old-school braces :-( I'd MUCH rather than the honest, not-even-trying-hard, stunningly gorgeous styling of the Porsche Boxster (718).

The basic question is why do a Z4 at all given that the current one and the Z3 were hardly big sellers.

If the rendering becomes reality, then it'll be dead before it gets to dealerships. It's bad enough this segment is a low-volume market, but this would bring things to a whole new level of "low".

The smart move would have been to have made the Z4 replacement a $30K (base) roadster equipped with a powerful engine and then to replace the 2 Series with a fastback coupe version.

I think old Supra's will continue to climb in value.

Especially ones not raped by the ricer idiots.

I don;t like the design in this rendering, and I do like the look of the 718, but those are completely different vehicles.

If I wanted to dive on a track or the autobahn I'd take the Porsche. If I wanted tool around on a country road and have the feel of an old British sports car, I'd take the Z4 hands down. The Porsche has suck high sills and such a raked windscreen you lose the open air feel which is the whole point of these cars.

Or you could just buy a British sports car.

But - if you buy a British Sports car in that price range - you will spend more time with your mechanic than you will driving the car.

Thankfully - most of the new TVRs will be bought by people for collection and will hardly be driven or not at all - so they will never know.

@TomM...

TVRs are not bought solely by collectors, but much more by enthusiasts who drive them quite often...weather permitting. Aside from the UK, there are especially vibrant TVR clubs in Sweden and Japan with owners who drive them frequently...weather permitting.

In the USA if you own a 1984 or older TVR, it was street legal to begin with. I try to drive an oldster once a week. The vehicle code allows direct importation for street use when a vehicle reaches "a certain age." If you're importing for track use, then any TVR is legal.

I've been known to drive an "illegal" TVR "legally" on the road with RMF plates. I am good friends with two guys up in the bay area that are TVR nuts and we've been known to rendezvous in Oakland, get rowdy on the bay bridge, snake our way through San Francisco, then take the 101 north into Sausalito for lunch. After lunch it's fun time on the Richmond bridge then the 580 back to Oakland. Tremendous fun. Nonstop curiosity.

2005 and older TVRs are actually somewhat reliable once they are sorted out.

There is a cottage industry in the UK that will finish the work that TVR never got around to.

The new TVR will use a lot of Mustang components to make it reliable. The engine, transmission, wiring harness, and other items should give the new car some much needed reliability.

There is also a cottage industry in the UK making more copies of the Sagaris though neither "Sagaris" nor "TVR" is used when it is sold.

A reproduction Sagaris with an LS9 is probably about a 5 month wait.

Bucktooth grill, not likely.

"Or you could just buy a British sports car."

Like an $80,000 Jaguar?

@carlosasshatter The F Type starts at a base of $61.4K.

I would take either the Supra or the Bimmer over the Boxster now. That engine in the Boxster sucks for the price you pay and frankly ruins it as a sports car. If I was going to track it I might change my mind and go for the Boxster due to it's fabulous chassis and grudgingly admitting that the engine sounds awful but has great torque.

I can tell you've been reading the B.S. that a some journalists (largely in the UK press) have been writing about the "terrible turbo 4 engine" in the Boxster/Cayman. I'm fairly certain that I've owned more Porsches than most anyone on Autospies and probably most of the journalists,as well. My review as an owner: all aspects of the 718 S makes it a very fine Porsche, including the engine. The sound from the car is not the wail of the flat 6, but it has its own unique sound and most owners praise the sound. The 718S easily outperforms the 981S, performs about the same as the much vaunted GT4 and outperforms the Boxster spyder even with its 3.8 liter engine. The low end torque of the 718 is so much more usable on the street than the > 4500 RPM revs you need with the 981 S flat 6 before you get any power (or make that famous wail). BTW, the 718 won the 2017 World Performance Car, besting the 2nd generation Audi R8 V10, the Mclaren 570s, Astom Martin DB11, NSX, LC500, MB AMG Roadster.

Crapping on the 718 because of the move to 4 cylinder is good for selling rags or clicks, but it is simply "false news".

I agree with Mini22 on this. The Super Beetle engine sounds terrible. Porsche should not be worrying about MPG or the carbon footprint bullshit. The Boxster and the Cayman--ditch the STUPID 718 name that no one recognizes--were better in EVERY sense with the flat 6. Turbo engines seldom if ever give an MPG boost, but they do often sound off-putting.

Matt - Mini's quote stated "ruins it as a sports car" and I'm calling that out as ridiculous. How can a car with the 718S performance envelope that includes objective characteristics like superior handling, braking, quickness and remarkably agile suspension be considered "ruined" because of the subjective characteristic of engine sound? Would I prefer the wail of my ex-Cayman GTS over the growl of the flat 4? Yes. But not at the expense of the huge torque bump. The 718 S covers ground both on the street and the track like no other Boxster or Cayman before, short of the GT4. Every review I've read against cars in its class like the M2, TT-RS and Jag V6 places 718S on top. "Ruined"? Not hardly.

@pcar4evr What's ridiculous in my world would be spending Porsche 718 money on a Porsche 718. For me a GT350, a ZL1, or a Stingray would be much more engaging. Hell, give me a 944 with a 2.3 Ecoboost conversion over a 718.

"@carlosasshatter The F Type starts at a base of $61.4K."

Show me an F-Type convertible at $61.4 and I will apologize for thinking you were a clueless boob.

@carlosasshatter The convertible starts at $65.4K. You responded to my "British sports car" post. NOWHERE did I say convertible, but even as a convertible, the F Type is $15K less than your guesstimate of $80K. I will NOT apologize for thinking you are a clueless boob because you are a clueless boob.

I have ZERO faith that the new Z4 will be as sporty as a Boxster. EVERY model that BMW has put out recently has been softened. The M3 was so soft and numb they had to create a special package to make it "sporty", unbelievable. The M2 is solid, but it's an "M". Will the base Z4 come close to the sportiness of the base Boxster? Very doubtful. Although to be fair, I suspect it's been designed to be a cruiser not a hard edged canyon carver. When was the last production Z4 M roadster/coupe?? This car has "hair stylist" written all over it. I suspect the Supra will be the harder edged car to get.

"I suspect the Supra will be the harder edged car to get." Complete with its automatic, dull shape, and trunk tumor.