Last week BMW Director in charge of MINI, Peter Schwarzenbauer, advised that the next generation MINI Roadster is likely to come from BMW's joint venture with Toyota to build sportscars. Autocar confirms that the venture will produce the next BMW Z4 and thus, provides insight into what the new Roadster is likely to be if it will be at all like the upcoming Z4:The new sports car will feature a front-engined layout. But unlike Toyota’s FT-1 concept, it is likely to be four-wheel drive thanks to the use of a direct-injection petrol engine and electric motors. These power sources will form part of a high-tech supercapacitor-touting hybrid system that draws on technology and expertise gained from Toyota’s Le Mans LMP1 sports car programme.
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At its heart will be a BMW-engineered petrol engine of no more than 2.0 litres in capacity. It will be combined with electric motors produced by BMW at its engine plant in Munich to specifications supplied by Toyota. Drive will be channelled through a sequential manual gearbox. A Toyota-developed electronics system is expected to provide torque-vectoring capability. . . . .
