tehdarkstar
Member
Well, today I debuted my Z in the track. Despite having a broken nose (the car) I still decided to go to Bedford for two reasons: one because it is the last date they have for the summer and second because I was booked anyway and would lose it if I didn’t go.
I have to say that this car is delicious around the track. Other than the brakes I can’t fault a single thing. The car handles superbly, has got bags of grip and balance, loads of power and torque and a soundtrack that just makes it addictive. I thought I was going to feel intimidated by it but no, from lap 1 with DSC off I felt in control and started to push harder and harder. I love the way a RWD car can play with the rear and the power delivery to slide, drift or even spin if provoked (more on that in a second).
I didn’t have means of timing any of my laps, but once I got confidence and started to really drive the car in and out of the corners by driving its limit it was devastatingly quick. The track was empty, but any M3 or CSL (there were 2 M3s and 3 CSLs) that I caught up with I overtook just by carrying more speed into the corner, going smoothly, getting in the throttle much earlier and building up a lot of momentum in the straights. It is a fantastic tool. :lol:
I couldn’t fault the Conti SC2 tyres either. I think it is the strut brace that makes the biggest difference on the balance and cohesion of front/rear ends of the car, rather than the tyres. That said, as soon as these SC2s are over I will put some PS2s in their place.
Now, the brakes: I’m really unhappy with the lack of feel. They don’t have any bite and don’t inspire confidence. I think it can be solved with better fluid and softer pads. On the good side, it resisted to fade quite well, the disks coped well with the heat and I managed to come back from Bedford without any warped discs, which is fantastic: Hurray! :lol:
Through the whole day I did only a couple of major mistakes: one corner I missed the braking point completely and nearly went straight on out of the track (and I had a passenger with me) and at the exit of a fast right hander I spun badly: the mother of all the spins! The car spun on the out of the corner, crossed the track towards the right-hand side of the track and went spinning in the grass. It gathered momentum in the grass (or at least felt like it) so it just went on and on for what felt like an eternity. The good thing about Bedford though is that there’s nothing to hit out of the track, so I just spun and spun and spun on the grass and when the car was happy having done it all and I was stopped again I just engaged first gear and slowly crossed the field back to the track... Finished that lap and did another flier straight after. :evil: :evil:
I had one of the Palmer Sport instructors with me in the lap I spun, so he was quite amused by it. He wanted to do some passenger laps with me because he had never seen a Z4 M Coupe before and many times he commented about how greatly balanced that car is and how lovely it handles.
Other than that it was a fantastic day with very few people (being a Friday and just before a bank holiday) so the track was quite empty, but there was a number of nice chaps there. Managed to be a passenger in an Alpina Roadster (a bit on the soft side but very impressive handling) and an Ariel Atom (now that is f*%$ng quick).
On a side note, I got my CDV yesterday so I will be getting it fitted at the earliest opportunity. My new bumper has arrived at the BMW dealer and should be fitted next Wednesday and got an e-mail from Thorney Motorsport asking if they can have my car on the second week of September. :cheers: Ah, and I'm booked for Castle Combe on the 21/09!
I have to say that this car is delicious around the track. Other than the brakes I can’t fault a single thing. The car handles superbly, has got bags of grip and balance, loads of power and torque and a soundtrack that just makes it addictive. I thought I was going to feel intimidated by it but no, from lap 1 with DSC off I felt in control and started to push harder and harder. I love the way a RWD car can play with the rear and the power delivery to slide, drift or even spin if provoked (more on that in a second).
I didn’t have means of timing any of my laps, but once I got confidence and started to really drive the car in and out of the corners by driving its limit it was devastatingly quick. The track was empty, but any M3 or CSL (there were 2 M3s and 3 CSLs) that I caught up with I overtook just by carrying more speed into the corner, going smoothly, getting in the throttle much earlier and building up a lot of momentum in the straights. It is a fantastic tool. :lol:
I couldn’t fault the Conti SC2 tyres either. I think it is the strut brace that makes the biggest difference on the balance and cohesion of front/rear ends of the car, rather than the tyres. That said, as soon as these SC2s are over I will put some PS2s in their place.
Now, the brakes: I’m really unhappy with the lack of feel. They don’t have any bite and don’t inspire confidence. I think it can be solved with better fluid and softer pads. On the good side, it resisted to fade quite well, the disks coped well with the heat and I managed to come back from Bedford without any warped discs, which is fantastic: Hurray! :lol:
Through the whole day I did only a couple of major mistakes: one corner I missed the braking point completely and nearly went straight on out of the track (and I had a passenger with me) and at the exit of a fast right hander I spun badly: the mother of all the spins! The car spun on the out of the corner, crossed the track towards the right-hand side of the track and went spinning in the grass. It gathered momentum in the grass (or at least felt like it) so it just went on and on for what felt like an eternity. The good thing about Bedford though is that there’s nothing to hit out of the track, so I just spun and spun and spun on the grass and when the car was happy having done it all and I was stopped again I just engaged first gear and slowly crossed the field back to the track... Finished that lap and did another flier straight after. :evil: :evil:
I had one of the Palmer Sport instructors with me in the lap I spun, so he was quite amused by it. He wanted to do some passenger laps with me because he had never seen a Z4 M Coupe before and many times he commented about how greatly balanced that car is and how lovely it handles.
Other than that it was a fantastic day with very few people (being a Friday and just before a bank holiday) so the track was quite empty, but there was a number of nice chaps there. Managed to be a passenger in an Alpina Roadster (a bit on the soft side but very impressive handling) and an Ariel Atom (now that is f*%$ng quick).
On a side note, I got my CDV yesterday so I will be getting it fitted at the earliest opportunity. My new bumper has arrived at the BMW dealer and should be fitted next Wednesday and got an e-mail from Thorney Motorsport asking if they can have my car on the second week of September. :cheers: Ah, and I'm booked for Castle Combe on the 21/09!
The one they had there in the track had a price tag of £275K...
