2019 BMW Z4 sDrive30i vs. 2019 Porsche 718 Boxster Photos

After nearly a decade spent with a folding aluminum roof, the BMW Z4 returns to the Z car's roots as a softtop convertible and a coupe. Until the 382-hp Z4 M40i arrives later this year, BMW's sole offering is this sDrive30i, which drives its rear wheels with a 255-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four lashed to an eight-speed automatic. Pricing starts at $50,695 and swells quickly.

The BMW comes off as a veritable bargain next to its competition. While it's roughly $4500 more expensive, the Racing Yellow Boxster on these pages could easily be the most basic 718 you will ever lay eyes on. With an out-the-door price of $68,070, the Boxster cedes eight points to the Z4 in the scorecard's price and features categories alone.

Tellingly, BMW doesn't make a weight-savings claim for the reborn Z4 with the ragtop. A body that is longer, wider, and taller than its predecessor's precludes any diminution of mass, our test car weighing in at a substantial 3407 pounds.

Down 45 horses and up 348 pounds on the Porsche, the Z4 can't hang with the Boxster even with the quick-shifting advantage of ZF's superb eight-speed automatic transmission.

Equal parts grand tourer and sports car, the Z4 capably plays multiple roles. It's comfortable enough to be a daily driver and special enough to reserve for weekend escapes.

The familiar iDrive knob, increasingly overburdened by the infotainment system's growing complexity, benefits from redundant touchscreen control. Inflatable bolsters, four-way lumbar, and adjustable seat pans tailor the chairs to any body shape, providing limitless highway comfort.

The Boxster delivers the thrills and rewards of cars priced $200,000 higher. That's not an exaggeration, although the temptation to succumb to hyperbole still runs high a week after driving this thing.

The trade-off for the flat-four's mighty power density (150.9 horsepower per liter) is a breath of lag at the low end as the turbo huffs up to speed. The optional seven-speed dual-clutch automatic mostly masks this old-fashioned behavior with right-now downshifts and just-right clutch actuation.

While it corners with the sharpness of a monofocused sports car, the Boxster never makes its passengers pay for the thrills. The 718's suspension compresses and rebounds with shorter strokes than the Z4's, and yet the Porsche's dialed-in dampers provide better impact absorption than the BMW's do.

The simplicity of the 718's cabin belies its price yet telegraphs its intent. The stand­ard sport seats compensate for their limited adjustability by cradling passengers in all the right places when the road dances.

The buckets set you low to the road, are snug to your torso and thighs, and spoon your spine from hips to head. From the clutter-free steering wheel, you simply drop your right hand on top of the tall, perfectly placed shifter.