BMW Sports Car Spied Testing in Europe, Likely to be Called BMW Z5

MANILA: BMW-Toyota collaboration soon to revolutionize the automotive world with its new sports car. Reckoned as the successor of Z4 in the model line-up, the new BMW sports car has been caught testing on the streets of Europe wrapped inside a tight camouflage cover, like the Ford caught earlier last month in Europe. It will be the first car to be out in the market after the collaboration deal. There isn’t anything evident about the nomenclature but rumours doing about the same in the media world is that it would carry a Z5 tag as soon as it hits the showrooms. However, it is for the German version while the Japanese counterpart of the same would come to light as the new Supra.

The prototype version of Z5 spied revealed certain cues about the brand’s tag it would carry at the time of its release. The point we want to make here is that the car’s front kidney-shaped grille makes it pretty obvious that it is the German version of the car made out of the efforts put in by both the brands.

From the spy shots, it can be concluded that the Z5 would only feature a soft top instead of the electronic retractable hard top. While, chances of the Toyota version to feature a hard top are on a higher side. According to the partnership deal, the Japanese automaker will contribute with electronics and hybrid powertrain system while the Germans will come in with engines and transmission systems. However, there isn’t any official word about the engine options Z5 would have but rumours suggest that it will have a plenty of them.

Slated for late 2017 or early 2018 release, the new sports car would borrow engine from 3-Series and would feature only turbocharged units under the flesh. With four or six power horses under the hood and a lightweight structure, it would be high on performance front and that’s what is desired from a sports road machine.

Apart from the sports car development, the German auto marque was recently in talks about the autonomous vehicle, which will be a result of the collaboration between BMW, Intel and Mobileye. Sports car, autonomous car and several other models from the brand’s fleet in coming years indicate that the brand has everything covered and planned to entice its global audience.

Images courtesy: CarPix