Clone wars: BMW Z4 vs Toyota Supra
ROAD TEST/ Is the difference more than skin deep? Denis Droppa weighs up the two-seater cousins
However you view the “cloning” exercise between the BMW Z4 and Toyota Supra, the fact is that neither of these twoseater sports cars might have existed without the economies of scale the technical partnership made possible.
Yes, the Supra is essentially a dressed-up Z4, and neither manufacturer made any secret of this. The turbo 3.0 engine and eight-speed auto gearbox are Bavarian, and managing the power at the rear wheels is an electronic differential.
The question is, has Toyota added enough of its own flavour to make these cars more than clones with different badges? We tested them side-by-side to find out.
Most aspirant buyers won’t necessarily have these two cars on the same shortlist, as the Supra’s a hardtop coupe and the Z4 a soft-top roadster and they serve different purposes.
But we wanted to see how much they differed in character, if at all.
For starters, there’s so much BMW switchgear inside the Supra’s cabin that it’s jarring to see the Toyota badge on the steering wheel.
However, dig deeper and the differences are more apparent. The Z4 takes a distinctly more premium direction with its interior trimmings, with more metallic finishes as well as ambient lighting. It’s a generally smarter and classier cabin.
MORE PLASTIC
The Supra cabin is sparser and makes use of more plastic, including the buttons, and the digital instrument panel has a sportier look.
Even the keys reflect the class division, with the BMW fob heavier and decorated with a metallic finish.
Both cars are filled to the brim with luxury features, but it’s the Toyota that comes better equipped straight out of the box, and standard items in the Supra include a head-up display and active cruise control, which are extra-cost options in the Z4.
It’s in the exterior styling where the major difference lies. The Toyota’s appearance is more dramatic, with its slashcut curves, double-bubble roof and distinctive duck tail. It’s the more overt show-off, looking like a car that would fit right into a movie.
The BMW, on the other hand, is more suave, and has a lot more presence than the previous Z4, with the large kidney grille creating a real sense of occasion, but not as angry looking as the Supra.
There are differences in practicality too, with the Toyota coupe offering direct access between cabin and boot so you don’t have to get out of the car to deal with smaller luggage you just reach back for it.
In contrast, the Z4 has a bulkhead between the cabin and cargo area, and there’s almost no stowage space behind the seats, save for a storage net.
For sun and wind lovers, the Z4 has the benefit of being able to go roofless at the press of a button, with the soft top operable at driving speeds up to 50km/h. There’s an impressive lack of wind noise when the roof’s up, as the soft top is very well insulated.
GOING TOPLESS
The impressive part of the Z4 is how little scuttle shake there is in this roofless car, and it felt almost as solid as the hard-top Supra. The BMW’s body has been well braced to make up for the lack of a solid roof, which is why it’s heavier than the Supra.
On the road, there aren’t significant differences in regular driving between our two protagonists. What kind of car you get depends largely on which driving mode you choose.
Both become distinctly angrier with their engines, transmissions and suspensions set to sport modes and in both of them you can fiddle with the individual settings; for instance, softer suspension with a quicker throttle or vice versa.
It took a number of high-performance tests to expose some differences between the twins, and even then they didn’t expose any huge chasms. In straight-line acceleration at Gauteng altitude, there was little to choose between the identically powered cars, with the slightly lighter Supra setting a best 0-100km/h time of 4.5 seconds and quarter-mile sprint of 12.7 seconds beating the BMW by just one-tenth of a second in each case.
Interestingly, it was the BMW that was one-tenth ahead in the 60-120km/h overtaking sprint.
Either way, the performance differences are miniscule and it will be the driver with the quickest reaction time that will win any traffic-lights dice.
On the handling circuit, the contrast was more pronounced. Both these rear-wheel-drive cars offer crouched-down, rollresistant handling with tails that can be teased into slides.
It was the Supra that rocked our world more than its cousin, with its slightly more civilised and predictable demeanour.
The Z4 felt a little edgier and seemed to be more prone to bouts of unexpected oversteer on the driving limits.
The Supra took more aggressive treatment to get unruly, and bringing the driver’s countersteering skills into play. This was largely due to the Toyota test car wearing grippier and more track-focused Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres versus the Z4’s Michelin Pilot Super Sports, which are more suited to everyday road use.
I also preferred the Supra’s thinner steering wheel, which felt more natural in my grip than the Beemer’s thicker tiller. The perforated Alcantara in the Toyota’s seat also grips the body better than the BMW’s leather.
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