The Red Roadster

Thinking about the week’s driving, I envisioned an open highway and a bright red BMW Z4 convertible. Well, one out of two isn’t bad. I got the car.

The Z4 is a driver’s car, just as the BMW ads proclaim. It is fast, with pinpoint handling and excellent brakes to go along with the speed. It is a car made for an unfettered rural back road, the type that now has been swallowed up by suburban sprawl. It would be great to have one in the boonies of Wyoming or Montana, wouldn’t it?

The Z4 arrived in 2003, and not a minute too soon. I never thought the angular Z3 (1996 to 2002) was a happy vehicle. Especially in hardtop form, it just appeared to be made of disparate elements. In 1.9-liter four-cylinder form, it got great gas mileage (23/31 mpg) but struggled to reach 60 mph in 8.3 seconds. The M Roadster could do the same dash in 5.2 seconds, but cost a heady $42,000, double the price of a Miata.

But the Z3 was a success, cutting heavily into the Miata’s sales. A successor was inevitable. The Z4 is altogether better looking, with a distinct family resemblance to the $100,000-plus Z8 (itself derived from the heavenly 507 of the late 1950s). In place of the four in the base Z3, the Z4 offers two six-cylinder choices, a 2.5 liter with 184 horsepower, and a three-liter with 220 hp.

The Z4 starts at $33,600, so it needs to be significantly better than the $25,000 Toyota MR2 Spyder. In many ways, it is. The Z4 has a decent-sized trunk for one thing, though don’t count on it for moving a file cabinet. There are also a plethora of power assists (including the top) where the Toyota makes do with manual controls. The driving position is great, and there’s ample room for two, though there are also some ergonomic problems worth pointing out. I inadvertently turned on the emergency flashers several times, and popped the trunk accidentally, too. Rear visibility with the top up is very poor. Radio and CD controls are tied in with the navigation system and are a bit fiddly. Run-flat tires replace the spare.

The top is a thing of wonder. One button and the snug, glass-windowed ensemble folds down neatly. The convertible is noticeably solid, with no hint of what the British call "scuttle shake." It doesn’t rattle, either.

It’s on the road that the Z4 really shines. With the 3-liter engine (an option that also includes leather seats, a better stereo and 17-inch wheels) it equals the M4 with 5.3-second zero-to-60 times. Those times are dependent on a manual transmission, and the six-speed in the test car was perfectly suited to it. Handling is superb.

After saying all this, however, I’d still have to say that the MR2 appealed to me more as a summer runabout. It’s unlikely that anyone would ever use an MR2 as a year-round car, but it just has so much soul it’s an ideal companion for clement weather. I’m not sure the performance edge matters much in the everyday driving we experience on today’s congested roads. The BMW is definitely more capable in many ways, but it was the MR2 that (for me) won the charisma sweepstakes.