Dr. WOT

I'd say this makes up for the appearace, in fact knowing what's inside gives the car far more presence.



The money shot:



The review from evo:

Hartge BMW Z4 5.0

Just like the machines it produces, no one could accuse Hartge of being slow off the mark. No sooner has the new BMW Z4 started appearing on our roads than Hartge has completely re-engineered a stock 3.0i to take the mighty 400bhp 5-litre V8 unit from the M5. Squeezing massive engines into the smaller cars from the Bee Em range is classic Hartge; we knew they'd do it but we didn't think we'd be getting the chance to drive one quite so soon.

One of the reasons for the speed of development is evident when you lift the bonnet. The Z4 has such a large engine bay that it easily swallows the V8. The engineers from the Merzig-based concern must have smiled to themselves when they first took their tape measures to the Z4. Remove the straight six, reposition washer bottle, drop in V8 and be home in time for tea. Of course there's much more to it than that, but the 4941cc lump looks so comfortable in there that it's almost as though the rest of the car was designed around it.

Close the bonnet again and you'll notice how the combination of lower stance, larger, 19in multi-spoke wheels and new front spoiler endow it with an aggressive look that manages to enhance the best bits of the Z4's controversial looks. Along with the big powerplant making sense of the all-nose styling, the complicated creases and curves appear to have more muscle and more purpose. It's now a car that demands you look at it, with the kind of road presence that makes other drivers move out of the way quicker than if you fitted blue flashing lights.

The interior remains as standard, except for the addition of an aluminium gearknob and pedals emblazoned with the Hartge logo. In fact, you won't find a BMW badge anywhere on this car; even the roundels on the nose, flanks and rear have been replaced. Hartge is obviously proud of its work and you soon realise why. The regular straight-six may have a fulsome howl, but it doesn't compare with the mean, raw pulse of a wrung-out M5 motor. With the roof - and your foot - down, it's a gloriously rich sound and with the bespoke stainless steel central exhaust it's louder and bassier than ever before.

The noise is a perfect match for the thumping acceleration that launches you at the horizon, in any gear at any revs. For a roadster, 1470kg isn't exactly light but it's still 250kg less than an M5, which, let's face it, isn't exactly sluggish. The result is the kind of acceleration that forces you back into your seat, gently squashing your squishy bits. Quite simply, it is properly fast. Hartge claims that the 0-62mph dash can be completed in 4.2sec and that, because the speed limiter is removed, the top speed is in excess of 180mph. There is very little reason to doubt that.

Along with the bigger wheels, the springs have been up-specced to cope with this ferocious pace. The rest is the standard adjustable BMW sports set-up and as tested it was quite stiff at the rear. The back end jarring over B-road bumps and potholes ultimately becomes the limiting factor in how fast you want to go. The car had only arrived from the factory the day we tested it and felt more attuned to smooth Germanic tarmac than crumbly Wiltshire back-roads. In contrast, the front end felt a tad softer then necessary and could do with slight stiffening to gain a little more bite. Birds of Uxbridge, the official Hartge agent in the UK, is currently perfecting the front and rear settings for our somewhat less than glassy- smooth highways.

Despite that and the low-profile Continental tyres (235/35 ZR19 fronts, 265/30 ZR19 rears) there is negligible tramlining and the steering has a beefier feel than the slightly vague regular Z4. Unsurprisingly it reacts to your inputs quicker too, diving harder into bends with much more purpose and conviction. The natural handling tendency with this set-up still leans towards understeer, but now there's a way around that. Turn off both Dynamic Traction Control and Dynamic Stability Control and the fun really begins. Nail the throttle mid-corner, choose your exit angle and disappear up the road leaving two Hartge signature smoking black lines on the tarmac. Proof then, if any were needed, that the multi-link rear suspension is a far more convincing package than the semi-trailing arms of the Z3. Sitting so far back from the front wheels, as the Z4 swings into its oversteering arc the sensation is that of a big, heavy Caterham. It is a little snappier, though, and you have gather things up smartly.

With all this momentum, the standard brakes have, of course, been replaced by heavy-duty hardware, with 380mm cross-drilled floating discs and six-pot callipers up front and 328mm discs grabbed by floating callipers at the rear. Unsurprisingly they dissipate the speed rapidly, but on one of the hottest days Britain has ever seen we did experience some fade when driving hard on a particularly tortuous section of road.

However, the sting in the tail isn't hot brakes; it's the price.

wantone

Dr. Wot, do a search I posted the car on video... AWESOME!

Dr. WOT

dang

anyway, here's some good readin'!

*edit: why did I think I could get the scoop on you? In my defense I did search, but obviously not very well

RichUK

Hartage made an H3 which got awesome reviews over here, much the same thing, phenominal power. Reviewer chickened out at 180mph with 'plenty left'!

wantone

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Dr. WOT
dang