Since both the Toyota Supra was revealed, it’s been endlessly compared to the BMW Z4 M40i. That’s because, under the skin, they’re essentially the same car. They share the same chassis, the same engine, the same gearbox, differential and even interior technology. Toyota claims to have tweaked everything to make it feel unique to its Bavarian sibling but that’s just corporate PR jargon, right? Carwow decided to find out.
Continue Reading Below
In this new video, we get to watch the BMW Z4 M40i and Toyota Supra go head-to-head in a series of tests to see which is the fastest. First up was a standing quarter-mile drag race. Both cars have eight-speed automatic gearboxes, both have launch control, both have the same Michelin tires and both are rear-wheel drive. Both cars also make the same power in Europe; 335 bhp and 369 lb-ft of torque. The BMW Z4 is a bit heavier but only by less than one hundred pounds. So it should have been a very close race.
Off the line, though, the Toyota Supra crushed the BMW Z4 M40i. It launched harder and continued to pull away from the Bimmer until it crossed the quarter-mile marker in 12-seconds flat. To make sure that the test wasn’t driver error, they lined the cars up again for another go. The second time around, the Z4 got the better start but the Supra still took the lead and kept gaining until the end of the race. We’re not sure if it’s weight difference or powertrain tuning but the Supra is absolutely quicker in the real world.
After the standing drag race, they performed a rolling drag race and a 60-0 mph braking test. We won’t spoil the rest of the video for you, as you should go and watch it, but the results are genuinely interesting. Take a look.
Well done, Toyota!
Beat BMW at its own game.
LOL How? All this comparison proves is that the Supra isn’t just a BMW with a Toyota badge which both BMW and Toyota said from the start but everyone thought they were funny rehashing the same joke of the Supra being rebadged this and rebadged that over and over.
These are two different cars for two different audiences and purposes.
not really, everything in the drivetrain is pretty similar, it’s just the tunning that would differ. This just proves that Toyota have better tunned the B58 than BMW, and also as car throttle showed in the dino tests, it makes much more power than announced.
All it proves is that the ECE particulate filters ruin a perfectly good motor. The Z4 B58 makes 382hp in its proper form. Slapping on the exhaust filter is what killed it, not the tuning.
Not really. Supra has same filter and more horses. Same engine in m340i has 374 hp in Europe. It’s European Z4 that is downgraded by BMW. Hopefully it will change soon.
The Supra is “better” because it was tuned to be something that the Z4 isn’t. Just because both cars have same drivetrain/powertrain, doesn’t mean that they are and should be identical on the street. This should have been evident with the reported/estimated Nurburgring times by Toyota and BMW (7:40, Supra/7:55 Z4).
As for the original post, it’s laughable to think that BMW couldn’t tune the Z4 with that B58 and ZF combination they have used in various cars – they tuned/configured it to what they think should fit a roadster and not a sports car because the Z4 isn’t that.
Canadian reviews are positive, 1 calls Supra the M Coupe BMW won’t build., so yeah. not a Z4 (which reminds me more of 6 cyl. SL).
So now get a U.S. version of the Z4 and do it again :-))
How do you turn a mule into a race horse? You buy a race horse and call it a mule.😁
Not a real Supra and not a real Z4 – match made in hell..
New Supra, New Z4 – no more a match than when Bentley & Rolls both came out of the same factory. Saw Z4 today, gorgeous. & Supra funky. Positive reviews from people who have actually driven them.
What is the weight difference? The Supra didn’t have all the convertible nonsense the Z4 is plagued with.