Face off Friday: Can the Saturn Sky keep up with the BMW Z4?

The Opel GT in Europe, which is the Saturn Sky in the U.S., is a beautiful and inexpensive roadster that costs nearly 11,000 Euros ($14,627) less than the BMW Z4, but delivers almost the same power. In a comparison done by AutoBild, the Opel GT Roadster delivers 264 horsepower with a 0-60 mph time of 6.3 seconds, while the BMW Z4 delivers 265 horsepower with a 0-60 mph of 6.1 seconds. Now remember, this isn’t about who crosses the finish line first, this is about if an unexpectedly powerful underdog can keep up with German engineering.

For the comparison, AutoBild, took the BMW Z4 3.0si and the Opel GT 2.0 turbo, both with rear-wheel drive, and put them through their tests. What they came up with was, despite almost the exact specs between the two cars, the Opel GT 2.0 turbo lags behind the BMW Z4 3.0si due to its bulkiness and weight.

Out of curiosity, we took a look at the American counterparts of both cars and found that the BMW Z4 3.0si in the U.S. comes with a 255 horsepower engine with a 0-60 mph time of 5.6 seconds, while the Saturn Sky Red Line pushes 260 horsepower with a 0-60 mph time of 5.5 seconds. Interesting enough, both U.S. models have almost a whole second in their 0-60 mph timing over their UK counterparts. If you want compare torque, the BMW Z4 3.0si has 220 lb-ft while the Saturn Sky Red Line has 260 lb-ft. We also found that the Saturn Sky Red Line weighs 62 lbs less than the BMW Z4.

So while the Opel GT or the Saturn Sky Red Line can probably keep up with the BMW Z4, we doubt anyone will pick them over the BMW Z4, but with a $13,375 price difference (the BMW Z4 3.0si with an MSRP of $42,400 and the Saturn Sky Red Line with an MSRP of $29,025) it may be worth thinking about for the more frugal buyer. Of course now if you want to turn more heads we recommend you drive away in a BMW Z4.

Source: AutoBild