Want a 2020 BMW M4 Cabriolet? Check out these competitors first

2020 BMW M4 CabrioletChris Balcerak / Driving So, you want a BMW M4, more specifically the drop-top M4. Youre not alone, I suspect, in your desire. The M4 Cabriolet previously known as the M3 before BMW started complicating its model nomenclature is one of the most desired cars on the planet. BMW M rortiness married to top-down freedom is a treat too tasty to resist.That said, recent M cars have become hefty beasts and their engines a little clumsy in their turbocharged over-the-topness. The current generation halted that trend though didnt quite reverse it with a switch back to BMWs famed 3.0-litre inline-six, this time twice-turbocharged to 425 horsepower, or 444 if you opt for the Competition package. Its a good one; lively, grunty, and especially when mated with the optional titanium exhaust system, sonorous as well. I really loved this piece of the puzzle, as the big six almost sounded normally aspirated as it revved to the moon. An option a loud one to be sure; I put that caution in there just in case you have sensitive neighbours but definitely worth having nonetheless. An inline-six at full blaze has always been BMWs best foot forward.It also handles a treat, BMWs legendary steering feel well present and accounted for. Ditto for minimized body roll, especially when flipped into pure sports mode. Indeed, the M4 cabriolets sole comportment issue is its, as I alluded to earlier, a tad hefty at a whopping 229 kilograms heavier than the coupe. Besides making the M4 feel ever so slightly ponderous, the other issue is that anyone who actually tracks their cars admittedly a small minority will find themselves going through tires at an alarming rate. Now, one assumes that owners of any BMW M product are well-healed, but blowing through $2,000 and more worth of rubber every time you hit the track could get very expensive.Part of the reason for the Cabriolets avoirdupois is, of course, BMWs choice of a hard retractable top. Making the top out of metal rather than cloth has all manner of advantages better body rigidity, a quieter cabin, etc. but one does pat a weight penalty. And, oh, all those clumsy gizmos, motors and panels eat up a lot of space in the rear trunk. Do not expect to take an extended vacation in an M4 cabriolet if you plan on driving al-fresco.That said, theres a certain sophistication a folding hard top brings to a convertible and the M4 certainly exudes that. Quiet save for that rorty engine and enormously rigid i.e. no cowl shake the $89,000 M4 cabriolet is very rapid open-air BMW driving. 2020 Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Handout / Mercedes-Benz You want even more moxie. Well, step right into the Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Cabriolet. Upping the ante with two more pistons and four litres of displacement, the C 63s twin-turbocharged V8 pumps out 503 horsepower and no less than 516 lb.-ft. of torque, all delivered to the rear wheels via a nine-speed automatic transmission and a limited-slip differential. The result is an almost supercar-like 4.1-second sprint from rest to 100 km/h, and should you live near an autobahn, a top speed of nearly 290 km/h. Cornering grip is prodigious, no less than Car Driver recording 1.02 lateral Gs of cornering force, albeit in the coupe. It also has a somewhat more refined, certainly more brightly accoutered interior. The only issues I have with the C 63 is that it doesnt sound as rorty as the M4 it sounds a little Corvette-ish to me and the suspension is firm enough for a Ram dually. Otherwise, the C 63 S is one of AMGs finer products. 2018 Jaguar XE SV Project 8 Handout / Jaguar You want(ed) something truly unique. Holy-moly, theres a Jaguar with you name on it. Called the XE SV Project 8, Jaguar extracts no less than 592 horsepower out of its 5.0-litre supercharged V8. Whew! It will also accelerate from rest to 96 km/h (60 mph) in a Porsche 911 Turbo-threatening 3.3 seconds and will continue gaining speed right up to 320 km/h. The brakes are carbon ceramic, and for the boy racer in you, theres also a giant rear wing adorning the rear deck. Said aerodynamic appendage also happens to produce 125 kilograms of downforce at 300 km/h, which no doubt, helped the Project 8 circulate the famed Nurburgring Green Hell in a Ferrari-challenging 7 minutes and 21 seconds. In other words, this is the mightiest of entry-level supercars. Theres only one problem: Jaguar only produced just 300 units worldwide! and only as a sedan. Oh, and priced at $208,000, theyve been long spoken for, though here’s one listed in Richmond, B.C., with but 100 kilometres on the odometer. You’re willing to wait for the ultimate BMW convertible. Well, the current M4 is an aging platform and is about to be replaced. Rumours posit that, though the basic engine configuration a 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged inline-six will remain the same, output will be pumped up to 473 horsepower in standard versions, and a C 63 S-baiting 502 horses available from
Origin: Want a 2020 BMW M4 Cabriolet? Check out these competitors first

Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet is only mainstream convertible SUV

Volkswagen is carving itself a new niche with the unveiling of the T-Roc Cabriolet, the only mainstream crossover with a fully convertible roof. Claimed to bring an “extroverted and emotive design” to the brand’s range, it indirectly replaces the Golf and Beetle cabriolets and will bear the burden of being the only drop-top Volkswagen for the foreseeable future. It’s due to go on sale early next year after a Frankfurt motor show public debut in September, with first deliveries in the spring. Far from chopping the roof off a standard T-Roc, the cabriolet’s body and structure are mostly new, with 37mm added to the wheelbase and a 34mm increase in overall length. As well as the absence of rear doors and a unique rear-end design, there is structural strengthening in the underbody, windscreen frame, side panels, cross members and doors. Engineers are confident that it would achieve a similar five-star score as the hard-top T-Roc in Euro NCAP crash tests. The soft-top itself features a mechanism similar in concept to the outgoing Golf Cabriolet’s, with the roof stowing in an exposed compartment above the boot rather than under a panel. This allows it to be one of the fastest-opening roofs on sale, retracting in just nine seconds via a switch on the centre console or the key at vehicle speeds of up to 19mph. The T-Roc Cabriolet’s roof design is also space efficient, allowing for two usable rear seats with enough leg and head room for six-footers to be comfortable on short journeys and a well-shaped 284-litre boot (161 litres down on the standard crossover). VW claims noise levels are kept low by specially developed door and roof seals. Only two engines, both petrol, will be offered with the cabriolet at launch: a 113bhp 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine and a 148bhp 1.5-litre four-cylinder unit. The 1.0 has a six-speed manual only, but the 1.5 can be mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. VW has yet to release official performance and efficiency figures or confirm the kerb weight of either variant. There are no plans for diesel engines to be offered. Two trims – Design and R-Line – will be available in the UK. Options will include a wind deflector, mounted over the rear seats, that stows in its own compartment under the boot floor. Prices will be announced next year, but bosses claim it will start from “well under” £30,000. QA with Jurgen Stackmann, VW board member for sales, marketing, aftersales There’s lots of talk about this car being an expression of Volkswagen’s emotive side, rather than a pure business decision. Is that the case? “The concept only has reason to exist because of that. The convertible is the ultimate expression of emotional mobility. It’s got lost in the last few years. The (sales) momentum for convertibles is over. “The opportunity to combine what people really want now – a C-UV (C-segment utility vehicle) – with a cabriolet that has a long-standing tradition in the Volkswagen brand was a great opportunity. For us, it had to look good, so we decided after seeing the first prototype to build it. From a rational side, you would never go into the cabriolet market.” Will this be the only convertible model from Volkswagen that we’ll be seeing for now? “Purely from a convertible point of view, that’s our car. It’s meant to please customers in the UK and Germany (the two biggest drop-top markets). If there’s anything ‘open’, it’ll be very different. It’ll be things we’ve discussed like the ID Buggy.” Will you do an R version of the T-Roc Cabriolet? “R is about high power, high performance and four-wheel drive, and we don’t think any of those are right for this. It would have very limited appeal on the market, so we
Origin: Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet is only mainstream convertible SUV

New 500bhp BMW M4 seen for first time in cabriolet form

BMWs upcoming M4 has been spotted in disguise in convertible form ahead of its release next year. The new generation of Munich’s Mercedes-AMG C63 Cabriolet rival can be seen to sport more athletic body proportions, afforded by the adoption of a new fabric roof. Replacing the heavy and bulky folding metal hard top arrangement, the fabric top allows better interior packaging, a shorter rear deck and, we expect, a significant weight reduction. Differences between this and the standard 2020 4 Series are familiar, with the return of the blistered wheelarches, bigger intakes and quad exhaust tailpipes. We already know that the next-generation BMW M3 and M4 due in 2020 will receive a significantly upgraded six-cylinder engine capable of more than 500bhp in its top form. The flagship model to use this new engine will be a new M4 Gran Coupé (imagined by Autocar above), the first time the four-door coupé has featured a full-fat M variant. The coupe and cabriolet will also return beside the M3 saloon. The 3.0-litre powerplant, which carries the internal codename S58, is a development of the firm’s standard B58 unit, as used in the existing 440i and other BMW models. But as M division officials have revealed to Autocar, “it is for all intents and purposes an all-new drivetrain with significant changes to the base engine that allow it to rev beyond 7000rpm and deliver a much higher specific output” than today’s S55 engine. As well as being earmarked for the next M4 Coupé and the first-ever M4 Gran Coupé, the new twin-turbocharged straight six is also planned to propel a new M4 Convertible, the upcoming sixth-generation M3 and, in a lesser-powered form, the second-generation M2. It will be launched in the new X3M and X4M. An increase in power provides the new S58 engine with a higher specific output in Competition guise than the old S55 with water injection, a set-up used by the 493bhp M4 GTS. That unit provides the outgoing M4 Coupé with 425bhp in standard guise and 444bhp in Competition form. BMW’s M division engineers have managed to raise power by more than 11% in the standard M4 and 13% in the M4 Coupé Competition, with claimed outputs of 473bhp and 502bhp respectively. These figures appear set to place the new model in direct competition with the 444bhp Audi RS5 and 503bhp Mercedes-Benz C63S Coupé. Torque is also increased by 37lb ft, with the new S58 engine delivering 442lb ft on a band of revs between 2600rpm and 5600rpm. Despite the increase in performance, the S58 engine has been developed to meet strict new emission regulations to potentially provide the standard M4 with a CO2 figure of less than 200g/km, thanks in part to the adoption of twin Otto particulate filters. Key among the changes over the S55 engine is the adoption of a longer stroke, at 90mm. The bore measurement remains 84mm, but BMW M claims the altered internal measurements help to boost torque potential. Also included are two mono-scroll turbochargers in place of the single twin-scroll unit used on the B58 engine, as well as BMW M’s latest Valvetronic variable valve timing and ‘Double Vanos’ variable camshaft profile. The compression ratio has also been reduced, from 10.2:1 for the S55 to 9.3:1. Although the new engine goes without water injection, officials say it may appear on a further-developed version of the S58 unit likely to appear in a successor to today’s 453bhp M4 CS. Secrecy surrounds the rest of the M4’s mechanical makeup. However, insiders suggest it is in line to abandon tradition by adopting an eight-speed torque converter-equipped automatic transmission and a similar xDrive four-wheel drive system to the latest M5 (with an M-Dynamic mode apportioning power to the rear wheels) in at least one version. It is also suggested a cheaper and lower-powered entry-level model could potentially be offered, with a manual gearbox and rear-wheel
Origin: New 500bhp BMW M4 seen for first time in cabriolet form

New 500bhp BMW M4 seen for the first time in cabriolet form