BMW Z4 M40i Is Quicker Than M2 Around Nurburgring

Maybe we don’t really need a Z4 M after all.

The upcoming Z4 Roadster was recently unveiled at Pebble Beach and while its looks have generally been a big improvement over the current car, the lack of a pure M model in the line-up has left fans a little disappointed. BMW M boss, Frank Van Meel felt that the market for such a model would be extremely limited and claimed that the 335-hp M40i offered more than enough performance already.

Well, according to the German publication, Sport Auto, he may be right. Their test driver, Christian Gebhardt has just set a lap time of 7:55.41 in a pre-production European-spec 335-hp M40i, a full 6-seconds quicker than the time he set in the M2.

Now the Z3 and first-generation Z4 both could be had in M-trim but the ‘vanilla’ models in those ranges never had the kind of firepower the upcoming Z4 M40i has. And seeing as it is fitted with M Sport brakes and rear-diff as well as electronically controlled dampers, it is already much more capable than any base Z4 before it.

What about the M2 Competition? Surely that M car would see off a Z4 M40i around a track? Well, that beefed-up M2 does offer a serious 405 hp from the twin-turbo motor it borrows from the current M3 but then again, US M40i models are likely to have 385 hp under the hood, instead of the European model’s 335 hp.

That should help keep the lap times very close although the two cars will undoubtedly have very different characters. The M2 is solely available in coupe form and can be optioned with a 6-speed manual transmission, it may not be much quicker around a track but it will still be the purists choice.

The Z4, on the other hand, is a soft top roadster that will only be available with an 8-speed auto transmission, although with the handling and performance to take on some serious sports cars.

12 Of The Strangest Automobile Laws From Around The World

Of the hundreds seemingly in existence, these are a dozen of the weirdest.

The modern automobile is an infinitely complicated piece of engineering and at the same time a rolling weapon. Thousands of pounds of metal and glass traveling at speed down the street, and the only thing preventing it from wreaking havoc is the piece of flesh in the driver’s seat, except in the case of vehicles like Teslas, where autonomous functionality aids your safety. But what defines how that bag of meat and bones handles their vehicle? Like anything, there’s an extensive set of rules defining how a motor vehicle should be driven.

The laws that govern driving are, for the most part, there for the safety of all who use the roads – but in some countries, these laws can be truly strange. Here, we take a look at some of the strangest you’ll come across, from countries all across the globe.

Not Necessary To Drive With Clothes - Germany

The Germans are rather authoritarian in their ways, usually being far stricter and more precise than just about anyone else. Control, for the Germans, is paramount, and they’re often the first to show extreme restraint. But it seems sometimes even Ze Germans let loose a little. According to German law, a motor vehicle is considered a private space. Because of this, you’re allowed to drive your 3 Series, Golf, or any other car for that matter, completely naked – provided, of course, you don’t go waving your jiggly bits around to all and sundry, that’s still indecent exposure.

No Honking After 9 PM - USA (Arkansas)

We’re on American soil for this one, particularly in the state of Arkansas. Suppose you’re out at your favorite sandwich joint and you see your friend across the road, how do you let them know you’re there? Well, typically you’d honk your horn; but if you were to do so after 9 pm near a sandwich or beverage shop in the state of Arkansas you could be fined. We’ve no idea why this is the case, but it's against the law nevertheless.

No Racing Animals On The Freeway - Canada

We're up past the northern border now, where in Ontario, Canada you’re not allowed to race animals on the freeway. The Ontario Highway Traffic Act states in Section 173 that “no person shall race or drive furiously any horse or other animal on a highway.”

So, should you come across a bear or moose running down the side of the freeway, don’t, against all your greatest desires, try and see if you can outrun it, even if you think your Chevy Silverado might give it a good go. If you do, you’ll most certainly be guaranteed a ticket.

No Riding Camels On The Highway - USA (Nevada)

You’ve got to wonder who that one guy was that did this in order for it to result in a law being made prohibiting it. And yet, in the state of Nevada, it’s prohibited to ride a camel on the highway. So, residents of the state of Nevada, riding your camel down the Las Vegas strip is OK – and you’ll probably receive numerous honks and waves along the way – but please, for the love of all that is sane, don’t go riding your hump-backed horse on the highway, it's dangerous.

No Drinking Water While Driving - Cyprus

Picture driving cross-country on a road trip with your family; music playing, kids singing, and after a few hours you get a little thirsty. Having a sip of water wouldn’t hurt anyone, right? But in Cyprus, if you wish to drink water, you’ll have to pull over and switch off the ignition. I wonder if that applies to other liquids too, or is it just H2O that’s so dangerous?

Mandatory To Carry Breathalyzer - France

France may be famous for wine and Champagne, but their tolerance for driving under the influence is next to zero. Exceeding a blood-alcohol percentage of 0.02% will see you end up in the back of a police cruiser in France. To ensure you don’t mistakenly get behind the wheel above that percentage, a law in France makes it mandatory to carry a Breathalyzer test in your vehicle at all times. Fair enough, we suppose; after all, driving under the influence is a major cause of fatal accidents the world over.

Compulsory Extra Pair Of Glasses - Spain

It’s understandable that the visually impaired should be mandated to wear their glasses, for the safety of all those around them. But in Spain, if you have to wear glasses whilst driving, it was law that you should also carry a second pair of glasses at all times. It was rewritten after 1997 and is no longer mandatory, but it is still highly advised.

Wrong-Way Driving Legal - USA (Alabama)

One-way streets exist to ensure driving occurs in one single direction only. Driving against the flow of traffic can be incredibly dangerous, except in the state of Alabama, where it’s perfectly legal to do so provided you have a lantern lit and hanging from the front of your vehicle. We’re no archaic traffic police, but we assume the same would apply to driving with your headlights on. Please, don’t try this though.

Women Forbidden From Driving In Bathrobes - USA (California)

Again, who was the driver that did something so bad it had to be made into a law? Well, in the state of California it’s illegal for a female driver to drive wearing a bathrobe. Should they do so, they run the risk of being ticketed. Is this just the case if you’re wearing ONLY a bathrobe, or would wearing one over your clothes result in the same repercussions? California, you’re weird!

Illegal To Herd Animals On The Road - Australia

Roads are built for cars, but in Australia, it’s animals that have the right of way. So much so in fact that it’s illegal to herd or direct animals off the road if they’re in your way. Instead, you must pull over, switch off the ignition, and wait for the herd of cows or sheep to move of their own accord. Do so much as wave your arm out the window could result in a fine of 141 Australian Dollars in the state of Victoria.

No Middle Fingers Allowed - Germany

We’ve all struck the gesture at some point in our lives, and some drivers tend to deserve it, but doing so in Germany would result in five points being docked from your license. Lose another three for any other driving infraction and you’ll have your license suspended. So think before you ‘flip the bird’ in Germany, it could have serious repercussions.

Illegal To Run Out Of Gas - Germany / USA (Ohio)

In Germany, where speed limits sometimes don't exist, it’s illegal to run out of gas on the highway. As if running out of gas isn’t bad enough, you’d be ticketed as well, making your bad day worse. It’s not just in Germany though as in Youngstown, Ohio, it’s also illegal to run out of gas, though here the law applies to any public street, not just highways.

BMW Z4 M40i Is Quicker Than M2 Around Nurburgring

Maybe we don’t really need a Z4 M after all.

The upcoming Z4 Roadster was recently unveiled at Pebble Beach and while its looks have generally been a big improvement over the current car, the lack of a pure M model in the line-up has left fans a little disappointed. BMW M boss, Frank Van Meel felt that the market for such a model would be extremely limited and claimed that the 335-hp M40i offered more than enough performance already.

Well, according to the German publication, Sport Auto, he may be right. Their test driver, Christian Gebhardt has just set a lap time of 7:55.41 in a pre-production European-spec 335-hp M40i, a full 6-seconds quicker than the time he set in the M2.

Now the Z3 and first-generation Z4 both could be had in M-trim but the ‘vanilla’ models in those ranges never had the kind of firepower the upcoming Z4 M40i has. And seeing as it is fitted with M Sport brakes and rear-diff as well as electronically controlled dampers, it is already much more capable than any base Z4 before it.

What about the M2 Competition? Surely that M car would see off a Z4 M40i around a track? Well, that beefed-up M2 does offer a serious 405 hp from the twin-turbo motor it borrows from the current M3 but then again, US M40i models are likely to have 385 hp under the hood, instead of the European model’s 335 hp.

That should help keep the lap times very close although the two cars will undoubtedly have very different characters. The M2 is solely available in coupe form and can be optioned with a 6-speed manual transmission, it may not be much quicker around a track but it will still be the purists choice.

The Z4, on the other hand, is a soft top roadster that will only be available with an 8-speed auto transmission, although with the handling and performance to take on some serious sports cars.

The BMW X2 Concept Comes Alive To Drift Around In The Snow

BMW's gorgeous Paris Motor Show debut will make it to dealerships...well, part of it will.

The first snow of the season usually signals that it’s time for those fortunate enough to take ski vacations to call in some vacation days, load up the car, and head towards the nearest mountain with the white powdery stuff. For automakers, the opposite is true because the snow means that it’s the beginning of the winter testing season. BMW chose this time of year to test out its brand new X2 SUV, which, as the X in its name implies, must be suitable for driving around in unfavorable conditions.

Our spy photographers endured the cold to bring these images back to us and unfortunately they only prove that BMW’s X2 design concept will remain just that, a concept. Not all is lost though, especially because the updates that BMW made to the X1 in order to derive the X2 are noticeable. Intended as the sportier of the two picks, the X2 has upside down kidney grilles up front, much like on the X2 concept, to delineate itself from the rest of the lineup. While it’s built on the same platform as the X1, 2 Series Active Tourer, and Mini Clubman, the X2 will be the sportiest member of the family. To achieve the look, BMW lowered the roof line to make the X2 look wider without using the space-sacrificing coupe-like roof lines of the X4 and X6.

Like the X1, the X2 can be had with either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and despite sharing many components, the X2 will likely be more stiffly sprung and engaging to drive than its utility-minded sibling. The X1 proved to BMW purists that the brand was able to make a fun and engaging FWD car, but not everyone liked the crossover’s styling. The X2 is an attempt to make the smaller end of the X lineup more appealing to young urban car buyers. If lady luck is with us, we’ll see a range-topping X2 M come out along with the usual crop of gasoline and diesel engines. Thanks to BMW's new go green mandate, we can rest easy knowing a plug-in hybrid variant will follow.

How PSA turned around Opel, GM's German castoff

In contrast to the flybys of GM executives, PSA's Tavares made a six-hour inspection tour on his first official visit to Opel in Ruesselsheim.Tami Maximiliane Holderried
Christoph Rauwald
Ania Nussbaum
Bloomberg
August 29, 2018 10:37 CET

The giant Opel factory in Ruesselsheim, an industrial city a half-hour's drive west of Frankfurt, appears little changed from last summer: Employees still wear "We are Opel" T-shirts and spend their days building Insignia sedans and Zafira minivans. One thing, though, is dramatically different: The cars that roll off the end of the line are sold at a profit.

"When I see friends in the pub, I can finally put the keys to my Opel on the table with pride again," Matthias Deschamps, a 33-year assembly-line veteran, says looking over the production floor. In July, when the automaker reported its first profit since 1999, "there was a big sigh of relief."

The end of Opel's run of losses -- $20 billion in red ink over two decades -- came less than a year after General Motors sold the company to PSA Group.

PSA CEO Carlos Tavares, who was ousted as Renault's chief operating officer after publicly seeking the top job at GM, has made peace with skeptical unions and figured out how to profitably produce low-margin cars in a high-cost country.

Opel posted earnings of €502 million ($583 million) in the first half, against a €179 million loss from August to December 2017, the first five months under PSA. Opel's 5 percent profit margin is now on par with Volkswagen Group's namesake VW brand, which has double the market share in Europe and sells more than five times as many cars globally.

As he did at PSA, Tavares avoided angering the staff with expensive and disruptive factory closings. Instead, he secured an agreement with labor to trim salary costs by reducing the standard work week to 35 hours from 40 and eliminating 3,700 jobs through buyouts.

Tavares has also cut output—Opel's European deliveries dropped 6.2 percent in the first half to stem losses and focus on cars customers actually want to buy. In Ruesselsheim, that means assembling 42 vehicles per hour instead of 55.

For PSA, Opel offers an opportunity to survive in the ultracompetitive mass-market auto business by spreading costs across more vehicles. And for Tavares—a notorious penny-pincher who flies discount airlines, urges colleagues to turn off office lights when they leave, and abandoned the prestige of a headquarters in central Paris for the suburbs—it was another chance to prove himself.

Reducing complexity

In contrast to the flybys typical of GM executives, his first official visit to Ruesselsheim a year ago became a six-hour inspection tour as he took a deep dive into Opel's operations, initiating part-by-part comparisons with Peugeot and Citroen. The review uncovered hard-to-justify excesses such as the 57 possible infotainment systems for the Corsa, a small hatchback that starts at about 12,000 euros. That is being reduced to fewer than 10. Similarly, Corsa buyers will have nine windshield and wiper options, down from 16.

"Under PSA, there is a stronger focus on reducing complexity," said Flavio Friesen, a director for vehicle engineering who has worked at Opel for 11 years. "That has helped us get more efficient."

PSA faces more challenges, as it's highly reliant on the saturated European market where it competes with global giants such as Volkswagen, Toyota, and Renault-Nissan. The group's brands largely target the same price-conscious consumers, and Opel's reputation needs polishing after GM's ownership. The U.S. company sought to sell the brand in 2009 but pulled the plug at the last minute to maintain a presence in Europe, and Opel had five chiefs in its last seven years under GM.

PSA must figure out what to do with the Vauxhall nameplate, which sells almost identical cars to Opel in Britain, adding cost and complexity to its operations. And Opel will have to make the transition to electric vehicles under the guidance of PSA, which has lagged behind rivals such as Volkswagen and Renault-Nissan.

"Opel is not done," says Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Management at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. "The challenge is to combine good numbers with good marketing and change their image."

While Tavares has called the ahead-of-schedule profit a "first very positive sign" of Opel's recovery, he cautions that achieving PSA's goal of 1.7 billion euros in annual savings from the deal will depend on combining the companies' engineering teams. The revamped Corsa, due next year, will share most basic parts and technical elements with compacts from PSA's French brands, and other models will soon follow.

And then there are Tavares's long-term goals, including an eventual return to the U.S. and transforming PSA from a European specialist to a global player. While he won't rule out further acquisitions, he says PSA doesn't need to grow dramatically to be successful. "More than volumes, profitability is the most important element," he says. "I prefer agility and efficiency to being the biggest car group."

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