FITTING A MANUAL GEARBOX TO A LONG-established model makes little sense in the context of car makers' efforts to improve efficiency and lower their corporate CO2 levels. Today's automatic 'boxes deliver better economy and performance, essentially because they have a couple more ratios than a manual and can offer a more efficient use of power and torque. Shift speeds are faster than ever too, and if it's a DCT (dual-clutch transmission) the connection feel between the throttle and the driven wheels is as good as that of a manual gearbox.
Logically, then, a manual is regressive, a backward step, and yet, at the eleventh hour, after five years in production, BMW has decided to put a six-speed manual and three pedals in the six-cylinder Z4. Rather than saying 'why?', we say 'what took you so long?' because the Z4 isn't meant to be a practical, sensible choice, and a manual might give it some much-needed driver engagement and appeal.
Until now, you could only have the Z4 with an eight-speed ZF auto and, to be honest, it seemed to fit the aspirations of the model and its customers down to the ground. Why the change of heart? Probably not market pressure because the Z4 has consistently been the biggest seller in this roadster segment. It finds a big market in Germany, the UK and the US, and while we think of America as auto-dominated, it's a market that also believes that your sports car doesn't earn the title unless it's available with a stick shift and then, when you've gone to the effort of making one, doesn't buy it. Witness the E60 M5 having a manual 'box in the US only (the rest of us didn't miss much; it wasn't a slick shift), where it accounted for less than seven per cent of sales.
Esta historia es de la edición September 2024 de Evo UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición September 2024 de Evo UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
TYRE 2024 TEST
Want to fit the very best tyres to your performance car? The annual evo Tyre Test identifies the cream of the current crop
HONDA ACCORD TYPE R
A liberal sprinkling of Honda Type R fairy dust on the late-'90s Accord produced an unlikely evo icon and a genuine performance bargain
TOY STORY
Where best to store some of Toyota’s most prized and valuable racing superstars? Under the wind tunnel at its Cologne HO, of course...
POWER PLAY
It develops 819bhp. It has no turbochargers, no hybrid assistance. Ferrari describes it as the most complete GT it's ever made. And it’s so proud of its mighty V12 engine it’s named the whole car after it. This is the 12 Cilindri
THE FIRST SAMURAIS
Japan has been responsible for many of our favourite driver's cars of recent decades, but their ancestors are often much less well known. We take a look at where the big manufacturers began their performance car journeys
DEFINITELY. NO MAYBE
Three Japanese performance icons - Lexus LFA, Subaru Impreza 22B and Nissan GT-R. Over three days on some of our favourite roads we explore what makes each uniquely thrilling, but also the car culture that unites them
1V3.0
F1, P1... and now W1. The next chapter in McLaren's Ultimate Series is the British firm's challenger to the forthcoming new Ferrari hypercar and a £2million, 1257bhp, hybrid-powered, technical tour de force
Thornley Kelham European RS
One man’s dream to build the perfect Porsche 911 has resulted inthis aaticMously restored and enhanced classic. We delve into the details and take it for a drive
Bentley Continental GT Speed
The new Continental GT is the most powerful Bentley ever, and the beginning of anew plug-in hybrid era for Crewe. But is it still a benchmark grand tourer?