Anyone else think Z4s are 'overtyred'?

T

Tref

Member
Just been zooming around various hilly parts of Western Germany in the Z4, enjoying the switchbacks. The car was annoyingly restrictive with DTC turned on, and even with it turned off it felt far too glued to the road (OK, some people will say that is a good thing). I know the M has 100hp more which help to break traction, but that's not the point. With standard 3.0 factory sized 255 width tyres on the rear I can't help thinking the 3.0 is overtyred. Am I alone?

By the way I'm no Tiff Needell who likes to spin the tyres up for the sake of it - I got 12,000 miles out of the last set of rears on my TVR, including trackdays.
 
hmm dont know, i turned off the tc yesterday for a drive, was interesting shall we say on certain roundabouts, but lots of fish tail fun on a curved driveway into the local morrisons supermarket, 2nd gear and boot it doing left/right flicks, its was like being a rally driver! only got a 2.5 but i think i prefer planted to braking traction.
 
Those large rear tires are a good thing, especially if you turn off traction control. Lots of fun! :driving:
 
They do have extremely wide rears for a car with a fairly average performance, compared to some of my previous cars - Lotus Esprit and Westfields.
 
Wippers said:
They do have extremely wide rears for a car with a fairly average performance, compared to some of my previous cars - Lotus Esprit and Westfields.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say the 3.0 cars have average performance - once you're under 6 to 60 then you've gone beyond average performance - it wasn't that long ago it was touching on supercar performance.

Lotus Esprit / Westfields are in a different league, but neither are cars you would depend on everyday (not saying YOU didn't or couldn't, but definitely wouldn't!).

Turn off the traction control and I don't think mine is over tyred, on the dry I can bring the tail out at safe speeds with a slug of throttle, and for an everyday car I wouldn't want it to be too mobile at higher speeds anyway.
 
If you've come from a TVR you're bound to think this. You can still get the back to twitch a bit with the DSC on though the track is the best place to try it out
 
I have the 218bhp 2.5si, with the 255 rears and I can have a lot of fun with drifts etc with dsc off. I guess it would feel glued compared to a tvr...
 
52 CAL said:
I have the 218bhp 2.5si, with the 255 rears and I can have a lot of fun with drifts etc with dsc off. I guess it would feel glued compared to a tvr...
Click to expand...

I guess I need to try harder :driving:

I never lost traction by mistake in the TVRs, and I drove them in some of the worst weather imaginable. (More than can be said for my other half not long after getting her Audi TT with 4WD, ESP etc.). I did aquaplane once on the A26 to Calais after driving into a sudden cloudburst - I'm sure the Z4 would have done the same since its also relatively light and has a wide footprint to spread its lightish weight over.
 
I remember reversing my TVR across my (level) drive one frosty morning amd getting wheelspin in reverse! Gently put it back and got the train :oops:

The TT Quattro handling isn't as planted in all circumstances as I would've expected.
 
Remember that the 18" Wheels with 255 tyres were 'optional' extras... Even though most have it. The Standard tyre for the 3.0i was a 225/45/17 front and rear iirc!
 
I've found the same thing with my Michelan Sport PS2's. When they are cold I can get the back end to slip out with no problem, but when they have the proper air pressure and are heated it takes a bit more early application of the throttle in a turn in order to get the tires to slip. IMO more grip is better than not enough.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom