[UncleScottie]

As the original poster, this thread took a wrong turn somewhere.

The context was meant to be as "Driver's car" not as "Track car". Z4 Coupe 3.0si vs Cayman, not Z4M Coupe vs Cayman S (or from somewhere out in left field, the GT3). A spirited Sunday drive through the countryside, not hot laps in a track prepped car that had to be trailered to the event.

Ignoring the Z4MC for the moment. BMW and its dealers really screwed up with the Z4 Coupe 3.0si in North America.

First off, greed got the better of most dealers, as they stocked mainly "Sport Package" equipped cars. A decision they paid for in the end with cars they could sell without huge discounts. By many accounts in the automotive media, and my own test drives, the base 3.0si is the better car. The Sport Package adds little in the way of handling improvements, yet significantly decreases ride comfort.

All BMW had to do is put in a hydraulic rack with decent steering feel and a set of conventional tires and they would have had the "pocket GT" that their marketing was claiming they had. It would have also given them a car that would have sold a bit better. Instead we got a useless "sport mode" button and some of the worse riding tires ever produced.