2010 New York: BMW blows into NY with new turbo-four

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW YORK –The straight-six is dead! Long live the turbocharged four!..Er..not exactly. But in making the world debut of its new 2012 BMW Z4 sDrive28i roadster here in New York, the German automaker is jumping on the downsized engine bandwagon. And while prevalent in Europe, BMW hasn’t offered a four-banger in North America since the 1990s 3 Series and the Z4’s Z3 predecessor.

Despite the “28” in its name, the new Z4 is powered by a 2.0-litre blown four. BMW says it delivers more torque, better performance and reduced fuel consumption compared to the existing straight-six Z4 sDrive30i.

In addition to the Z4, the new BMW turbo four has already started showing up in other vehicles replacing the base 3.0-litre six. The new BMW X1 crossover, that just went on sale in Canada, only comes with a 241 hp and 258 lb-ft iteration of the new blown four.