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BMW's next-century concept mentions no powertrain, and we're sad

So the Ultimate Driving Machine might soon become the Ultimate Machine Driver. We get it, that's the way things are moving. For its part, BMW still plans to involve a driver in its next-century designs, as foretold by the Vision Next 100 concept it unveiled at its centenary celebration kickoff event. But what gets us is that BMW, Bayerische Motoren Werke, the company known for delivering some of the most sorted powertrains – gasoline and otherwise – over the last century makes no mention of the future of propulsion when presenting its idea of the next 100 years on the road. Maybe it's the fact we just don't know what will power our cars even 10 years down the line; locking into one concept or another could look bad in hindsight. But the whole, er, concept of a concept is to look at what might be possible, not avoid sticky issues. Where are the in-hub motors, the wireless charging mats, the onboard fusion reactors we were promised in Back to the Future Part II? This is an opportunity to offer innovative solutions. Skipping over the power was a mistake, and one that makes me a little disappointed in the company. I'd have liked to see BMW go big with a bold prediction, or even just admit that gas will be gone and some form of electrification will take its place by 2116. We're okay with electric motors as long as they don't drain the life out of cars, and they don't have to, which is something companies like Tesla and even BMW have proven. Here's hoping one of BMW's other centenary concepts will pick up where the Vision Next 100 fell short. Related Video: Featured Gallery BMW Vision Next 100 Concept Green BMW bmw vision next 100 concept

2014 BMW Z4 sDrive35is

The BMW Z3/Z4 roadster has never really had a widespread following because it has either been too humble and small a roadster (albeit with some fun and very low-volume M editions) or it has been - in this E89 generation - too casual an image leader with no racier aspirations. The current 480-hp Z4 GTEs don't count, since they are as stock a Z4 as today's Pamela Anderson is the same blonde actress we knew as Heidi on Home Improvement. You know, sort of like those ever-so-slightly modified Toyota Camry coupes competing in NASCAR.
The ultimate highpoint for the BMW Z roadster franchise was at the very start of its life in the mid-90s, in the James Bond film GoldenEye with Pierce Brosnan. The Stinger missiles that Q's team installed behind the Z3's headlights were never fired, and BMW never even offered this self-defense package as an option. Yet another case of the ol' bait and switch.
And in all these subsequent years of Z3s and Z4s strutting their long-hooded stuff, the little sporting Bimmer could really have used a live Stinger missile or two to spice things up. The current Z4 exists, it is pretty dang sexy, and BMW seems content to let it linger there. We just drove the new midlife version of the roadster near BMW headquarters in Munich, and it served to reinforce our feelings.

Watch the BMW M4 GTS lap the Nurburgring in under 7:28

When BMW unveiled the new M4 GTS back in October, it said it could lap the Nurburgring in 7 minutes and 28 seconds. That's all well and fine in terms of bragging rights, but what Bimmer enthusiasts have been waiting for is the proof. And here it is, in ultra-HD 4k glory. In the video above, you can see the new M4 GTS scything its way through the Green Hell of the Eifel mountains. Behind the wheel is M GmbH engineer and racing driver Joerg Weidinger, who helpfully narrates the video to show us exactly how he tackled each and every corner along the 14-mile circuit. Which may come in handy for those with a season pass to the Nordschleife, but the rest of us are more concerned with that lap time and how it holds up. To put it plainly, the 7:27.88 lap makes the new GTS not only the fastest in the M3/M4 line to date, but the fastest production Bimmer ever clocked around the 'Ring. It handily beats the previous M3 CSL (7:50) and the stock M4 (7:52), and even trounces more powerful Bavarian machinery like the Z8, M5, and M6. There've been a handful of BMW-powered racers, motorcycles, and prototypes (not to mention the McLaren F1) that have clocked faster times, but as far as four-wheeled, standard production Munich-mobiles go, the new M4 GTS is the new King of the Ring. It also just so happens to match or beat the best times clocked by the more exotic likes of the Ferrari 458 Italia, McLaren MP4-12C, and Porsche Carrera GT – putting the M4 GTS in rare company indeed.