BMW Z4 or Porsche Boxster?
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0:00 - Intro
BAD:
0:18 - Driver assist
And even still it’s a shade of gray. You get adaptive cruise and lane keep, but it’s not got the traffic jam assist and some of the more advanced systems BMW offers
0:46 - The culture
This one is completely out of BMWs control, but something I’ve noticed and something I experienced personally.
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GOOD:
1:52 - The Drive
This thing is a little riot machine!
When you have something as potent as the B58 straight 6 in the lineup you half expect the 4 cylinder to be neutered…but it still rips!
With the top down and wind blowing it feels fast
The sound is pretty good
The gearshifts are sharp and give you a little noise drama
The front end is bitey and aggressive
The grip is really good mid corner from these Contis
And the back end will rotate with traction off
A lot of that stuff is courtesy of the dynamic handling package
which adds in an LSD, adaptive dampers, and brakes
3:05 - practicality
But here this Z4 is WORLDS more practical
You have way more space in the trunk, the capacity has to be at least double
You even have a pass through to the main cabin which is hilarious to me
You DO have a glove box
You have a BIGGER center console with actual built in cupholders and a place to put your phone
And then speaking of phone you have a cubby under the dash with a wireless charger and other stuff
Plus you have a small shelf behind the seats
AND you can fit people over 6 feet in here easily
3:50 - The engine
Under the long hood here is BMW’s B48 2 liter twin scroll turbo 4 cylinder and it’s a great little engine
It’s tuned to 255 hp here
But now it’s got a 48V mild hybrid system so it’s also pretty efficient
It’s rated at 28 mpg combined, but i’ve been outpacing that this week and it’s not like i’ve been babying the car
4:54 - The roof
The soft top keeps weight down AND down lower in the car which helps handling
It’s also pretty refined and quiet with the top up on the highway
BUT if you want to put it down you can do it while moving as long as you’re going 32 mph or less
And then it’ll take 10.5 seconds to go down or up
5:28 - Technology
You don’t have iDrive 8, but that means you still get all the physical controls you’re used to
You’ve got a 10 in center screen
With ACP and AA
Reverse camera
Reverse assist breadcrumbs - awesome
You’ve also got cool displays like your sport display telemetry
Kinda cool since these things are usually reserved for super sporty versions
And also the energy flow screen to see where and how your power is going
Again usually reserved for more comprehensive hybrid systems
Then you’ve got a digital cluster and a HUD
6:18 - Styling
It’s got the loooonggg hood and the short deck out back
And it’s draped in GORGEOUS Portimao Blue paint
I would either have this or thundernight purple
We’ve also got the shadow line package to black out all our accents
We’ve got upgraded 19 inch wheels wrapped in Conti performance tires
And red M sport brakes peeking out from underneath
And then around back it’s a simple dual circle exhaust
And a nice looong third brake light
7:04 - Price
These Z4s start at 53,600 - and this one as tested is 64,500
And yes, that’s big money on the face of it
BUT a Porsche Boxster, the next most logical option STARTS at 65k
And then goes up from there and we all know how Porsche options can go
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7:36 - Conclusion