It’s been nearly four years since BMW and Toyota first formed a partnership to jointly develop a sports car, and now it seems we’re finally seeing the first fruits of their labour, as our European spies have captured BMW’s version, a two-seat roadster rumoured to be called the BMW Z5.
The one number up from the Z4 suggests that the new car will be slightly larger than the current car, which could perhaps mean abandoning pursuit of the Porsche Boxster in favour of cheaper variants of the 911, possibly as a sportier, less complex and less expensive alternative to the million-ringgit i8.
This would make sense given that the Toyota 86 already competes at the lower end of the sports car market, so a Toyota version of the car – we’ll just call it the Supra from here on out – would need to be justifiably bigger and more powerful to distance it from its more affordable sibling.
In the photos the car does appear larger than the Z4, with a longer rear end that better balances out BMW’s characteristic long bonnet. Also apparent is a fabric roof instead of the Z4’s folding metal top, further suggesting that this would be a more minimalist and more hardcore proposition than the laid-back Z4.
Expect the roadster to feature BMW’s usual turbocharged 2.0 litre four-cylinder and 3.0 litre straight-six engines, as well as an M version with the M4‘s 425 hp twin-turbo straight-six. Also rumoured is a hybrid variant shared with the next Supra.
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- Spy-Shots of Cars – This image has been optimized for a calibrated screen with a Gamma of 2.2 and a colour temperature og 6500°K
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- Spy-Shots of Cars – This image has been optimized for a calibrated screen with a Gamma of 2.2 and a colour temperature og 6500°K
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- Spy-Shots of Cars – This image has been optimized for a calibrated screen with a Gamma of 2.2 and a colour temperature og 6500°K
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- Spy-Shots of Cars – This image has been optimized for a calibrated screen with a Gamma of 2.2 and a colour temperature og 6500°K
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- Spy-Shots of Cars – This image has been optimized for a calibrated screen with a Gamma of 2.2 and a colour temperature og 6500°K
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- Spy-Shots of Cars – This image has been optimized for a calibrated screen with a Gamma of 2.2 and a colour temperature og 6500°K
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- Spy-Shots of Cars – This image has been optimized for a calibrated screen with a Gamma of 2.2 and a colour temperature og 6500°K
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- Spy-Shots of Cars – This image has been optimized for a calibrated screen with a Gamma of 2.2 and a colour temperature og 6500°K
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- Spy-Shots of Cars – This image has been optimized for a calibrated screen with a Gamma of 2.2 and a colour temperature og 6500°K
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- Spy-Shots of Cars – This image has been optimized for a calibrated screen with a Gamma of 2.2 and a colour temperature og 6500°K
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- Spy-Shots of Cars – This image has been optimized for a calibrated screen with a Gamma of 2.2 and a colour temperature og 6500°K
There is something that Toyota wants from BMW. And vice versa
Toyota been talking Supra for centuries still got nothing.
Comparing a Supra to a BMW Z? That’s blasphemy. This is more like a Celica.
Mana itu sulat khabar lama olang? Ada olang kata mau lekat sulat khabar lama pada keleta.
fabric roof~!, yay~!
toyota GT2000 rebirth?
launched alongside the old custom convertible CT2000 from the bond film…
Toyota also has heritage In Line 6 twin turbo engines – the Supras of course. It’ll be a big pity if Toyota has not re-designed & use their In Line 6 turbo engine. A huge shame if Toyota use BMW engine!
The real shame is when a BMW uses a toyota engine.
No, the question is the Japanese already have their own in-house high performance engine expertise with decades of experience, why need to turn to the Germans? Chassis tuning might be a different story..
still u cant afford to buy that…why bother comment?
What?? Toyota is gonna re-engineer a BMW as their own car?? Impossible! Only lousy companies like Proton does platform sharing/re-engineering, right?? Proton is the only one in the world that does that and they should close shop, right??
Lu otak karat la john