While Toyota remains tight-lipped about its forthcoming Supra coupe, BMW has been far more forthright about its roadster, which will share mechanical underpinnings with the Toyota. We’ve driven a prototype version of the 2020 BMW Z4 roadster and reported positive early impressions of the turbocharged six-cylinder M40i version.

But while our natural instinct is always to hope for more performance and a sharper dynamic focus, it looks as if the M40i that we drove will be the top of the hierarchy. BMW M division boss Frank van Meel said the business case to produce a full-on M variant as a successor to the former Z4 M roadster and coupe is likely too marginal to justify the investment.

“Let me put it this way: I think the M40i is the perfect positioning regarding performance of that car,” he said at a media event in Spain. “It’s quite close to the M2, so we’re really happy with the overall concept of that car being an M40i. If you would go any higher, it would be very, very narrow in customer groups.”

His statement, although not a formal denial of a faster version, does seem pretty close to a negative. Of course, if Toyota were to choose to create a higher-performance version of the Supra coupe, which we know will use the same BMW 3.0-liter engine, then corporate honor might oblige BMW to try to keep up. So let’s hope that happens.



View Photos Chris Doane Automotive Car and Driver

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