Cars.com's Mike Hanley takes a look at the 2011 BMW Z4 sDrive35is. It competes with the Chevrolet Corvette and Nissan 370Z.
Transcript
(exciting rock music) <v Narrator>cars.com Auto Reviews. Hi, I'm Mike Hanley with cars.com and I'm here at Road America racetrack in Wisconsin with a new version of the BMW Z4 Roadster. It's called the sDrive35is.
And it's a high performance model for 2011 that packs more power, special gearbox, and some interior styling changes. We had a chance to drive it on the track and I'll tell you about it in a little bit. The heart of the 35is, is it's more powerful, 335 horsepower inline-six engine. It's a twin turbo engine. It normally makes 332 pounds feet of torque but it has an over boost feature to bump that to 369. Now it was a great engine on the track and it was tied to a really quick shifting, seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission that really knocked off the shift as you were accelerating. It's also a pretty nice chassis. They have an electronically adjustable adaptive suspension really makes this car feel pretty playful on the corners at Road America. So overall, a nice package on this type of a track. So in addition to the Z4's playful dynamics that really let you rotate it around a corner just by using the gas pedal, it also has a really great exhaust sound and that's facilitated by a unique exhaust system. So it really sings on the track. It's a great thing to have in this car. In addition to 18 or 19-inch light alloy wheels, the sDrive35is get some interior changes too, that separate it from other Z4's. And that includes an M-style leather steering wheel, special gray backed gauges, grippy sports seats with nice side bolstering, and this interesting aluminum carbon trim. It's real aluminum but it has kind of a carbon fiber mesh pattern, looks really interesting. One downside though, is it gets really hot. The sDrive35is starts at around $61,000, and that's about $9,000 more than the next most powerful Z4. That's a pretty big upcharge, but what you get is a really versatile Roadster with its retractable hard top roof for all weather capability, and it's really capable on a racetrack if you have access to one of those. <v Narrator>For more car related news, go to cars.com or our blog KickingTires.net.
