Engine:	V10
Displacement:	5500 cc

Weight:	2640 lbs
Transmission:	7 Speed SMG

Horsepower:	550 hp
HP per liter:	100 hp/L
Power/weight:	4.8 lbs/hp

BMW is on the brink of deciding whether to make a successor to the £84,000 Z8 -- a stab at the supercar market which didn't work visually or financially. A report in this week's Autocar based on conversations with BMW engineers suggests that the car is likely to come out of the Bavarian company's Californian studios and be called the Z10.

Saving weight is the central theme, with an aluminium spaceframe chassis, first used in the Z8, the centrepiece. It'll be about the same size as a Lamborghini Gallardo but weigh 250Kg less at around 1,200Kg. Motive power will come from the now-established 500bhp V10 found in the nose of the M5 and M6 -- a chunky but potent motor. The report suggests that BMW may bore it out to 5.5-litres to boost power to 550bhp, driving through a seven-speed sequential gearbox. That kerb weight gives it a power-weight ratio of 458bhp/tonne, beating both the Porsche Carrera GT and the Ferrari F430.

It will include all the electronics you would expect to keep it on the road while pressing on, together with active spoilers and a venturi underbody to suck onto the tarmac. Open-topped, it will feature a carbon fibre folding roof to allow it to compete with the likes of the Mercedes SL while keeping weight and the centre of gravity down.

Since the Z8 sold poorly -- fewer than 6,000 were sold during the three years it was on sale -- the studio is being asked to come with a more aggressive style than the retro look it plastered on the hapless Z8. It will be built using spare capacity at the Rolls Royce factory at Goodwood.

Expect it to be sold close to top-end 911 money -- similar to the Aston Martin V8 Vantage -- at around £80,000-90,000.
PistonHeads

This section will feature my personal take on this car.