Like it or not, James Bond has switched to a German car. He may still drive an Aston for pleasure, but during work he uses strictly products with the spinning prop. Yet the first two pairings were not that impressive. 007 didn’t look sophisticated driving around in the diminutive Z3. And did he really need a fully-armed 750i just to get out of a parking garage?
All that’s about to change, for BMW is now launching its big roadster named the Z8. This is much better. The main attraction here is the Z8’s 400-bhp 5 liter V8, borrowed from the new M5. It’s a true powerhouse, churning out exactly 400 bhp and 500 Nm. BMW’s double-VANOS variable-valve timing is incorporated and works on all four camshafts. The engine is mounted as far back in the chassis as possible, to help give the Z8 the ideal 50/50 front/rear weight distribution.
The large engine in the front dictates a long-hood, short-tail look in the classic-roadster tradition. It looks quite different from the Z3, which is a relief. There is no standard BMW four-eyes headlamp cluster surrounding a hood-descending double-kidney, for instance. Instead the headlamps (xenon, of course) are faired into the front fender bulges. The chrome twin kidney grille is widened to encompass two driving lights. Call it retro or homage-design, but it’s a deliberate contrast from the aerodynamically designed noses of current supercars like the Ferrari 360 or McLaren F1. The front fenders flow backwards almost in a straight line into the top of the doors and into the rear fenders, where the line bulges and tapers backwards. Side vents are incorporated into the car, a styling cue from the Z8’s forebear, the 1956-59 507 roadster. The rear though looks futuristic, with its mail-slot strip of taillights. Exhausts pop out from the rear bumper like twin cannons.
If anything, the interior is even more retro than the outside. It features two large leather seats, with twin tapered rollbars also covered in leather. Bright aluminum is everywhere-on the handbrake handle, aircon vents and controls, surrounding switches. The steering wheel is very strange, with four separate metal rods to make up each of the three spokes of the wheel. Again, it’s inspired by the 507. The instruments are located in the center, supposedly to improve one’s view of the road. This seems questionable, as practically all modern instrument binnacles stay out of the driver’s line of sight to the road. Most of the switches are unlabeled. This was also done in the spirit of the ’50s, when cars were meant to be very personal and took some getting used to.
Though the car may look to be a remnant of the past, underneath all that is a state of the art aluminum spaceframe chassis. At least it doesn’t fall short of the F360 in this respect. This results in a highly rigid and stable frame that hopefully will translate to superb handling despite the absence of a roof structure. Brakes are massive discs, and the wheels are 18-inchers. 245/45 front and 275/40 rear tires ensure that launch, cornering and stopping grip can keep up with the rest of the car. Just to make sure, there’s also Dynamic Stability Control, which selectively brakes a wheel to keep the car on course.
So how does this combination of high technology and retro styling perform? It can hold its own with some of the world’s quickest cars. It can do 0-100 km/h in 4.7 seconds, compared to the F360’s 4.5. This performance is probably due to the Z8’s peak torque of 500 Nm occurring at a low 3800 rpm, compared to the F360’s 380 Nm at 4750 rpm. Top speed is electronically limited to only 250 km/h, but the true top speed is probably close to the Ferrari’s 295 km/h limit.
All this performance of course does not come cheaply, and the Z8 goes for a staggering $120,000. There are many who would plop down that amount for a car, but given the other choices in that price range, the Z8 is in very competitive company. $120,000 would buy the new Porsche 911 Turbo when it comes out late 2000. Or a Honda NSX and S2000, with change.
Personally, I’d rather go for the M5, for then I can frighten myself and more than one friend at the same time. The M5 offers the same engine, and almost all of the incredible performance and handling prowess. It’s much cheaper, too. Or, for the same money plus another 20 grand or so, I’d take an F360. But if you have fantasies of being 007, then nobody does it better than the Z8.
By Redline | Photos courtesy of BMW of Germany, BMW USA
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