First Trip out in the Z4M - Anglesey

[moonigan]

On Sunday I took the Z4 to Anglesey for its first track day. Kitted out with new discs, pads and rubber. I’ve never been here before and it was a glorious day. I got there earlier than anticipated and the car park had no more than a dozen vehicles in it some of which had stayed the night. I had heard some reports about FE using the pile em high sell it cheap approach to trackdays so I was worried that it would be packed out but this turned out not to be the case. The briefing was short and to the point and they made it clear that they wouldn’t stand for any messing.

There was a real mix of cars there some of which to be honest looked like the next stop after the day would be the local scrap dealer. I spent the first part of the morning getting to know my car and the track and they are both superb. The car feels so much more involving and rewarding than the M3 did and I felt more comfortable driving it quick (quick for me anyhow). The track is quite technical with a few elevation changes and I will certainly be going back again. The only downside is there is no onsite petrol and the nearest SUL pump is 10-15minutes drive from the circuit.

In the afternoon a couple of guys I know from another forum turned up so I had a couple of sessions with them before I decided to shoot off home. I was really worried that the Vredestein tyres would rip themselves from the rims but they held up remarkably well and I was able to do 5 or 6 laps before having to come in and let everything cool down. That said on a warmer day I don’t think they would have lasted very long so the next thing on the agenda is some new tyres for the 18” rims I have in the garage and some instruction.
Here a couple of pics and a vid.

http://vimeo.com/10901240

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[klarky]

sounds good, i did oulton with fe and it was a good day. how did you manage to get away with a suction camera mount, didnt think you could use them on track?

 

[Wondermike]

Nice pics

 

[mmm-five]

Anglesey Circuit (Trac Môn) is one of my favourites for marshalling at, and it's all the better for the redevelopment it had abouyt 3 years ago.
The surface is superb and the track is wider than Oulton, Cadwell, Croft, Brands, Knockhill, etc. (I think Donington & Silvertone are wider).

Pity they had you on the 'International' circuit as it means you missed out on the 'corkscrew'

BTW, where's your mirror?

 

[moonigan]

BTW, where's your mirror?

I took it off becuase it was taking up half the screen on the video.

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[moonigan]

sounds good, i did oulton with fe and it was a good day. how did you manage to get away with a suction camera mount, didnt think you could use them on track?

No one even mentioned it. I know a few people who have this particular mount and they have never had any issues which is why I bought it.

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[WLH]

Very Nice....

 

[klarky]

sounds good, i did oulton with fe and it was a good day. how did you manage to get away with a suction camera mount, didnt think you could use them on track?

No one even mentioned it. I know a few people who have this particular mount and they have never had any issues which is why I bought it.

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fair do's - last few track days ive been to they have said no suction mounts in the brief and to go see someone to have the mounts checks / sign something (disclaimer no doubt)

 

[TH3R4POR]

really nice pics 8)

 

[mcbeee]

The first and last pics would look good in the Photo competition, a Z4 doing what it's supposed to do....

 

[jamiez]

Very nice

How did the car handle up overall - i.e. in terms of brakes/tires/discs etc?
Were the tires noticibly worn after?

 

[moonigan]

Very nice

How did the car handle up overall - i.e. in terms of brakes/tires/discs etc?
Were the tires noticibly worn after?

To be honest it handled the day better than I expected. The tyres were the weak point in the whole setup but I expected this as they are not track tyres and I think any road tyre would have been the same in those conditions. The brakes were superb, I had some rumbling and vibration early on but the disks and pads had only been on the car a week (i had already done a bedding in process of 8 or 9 runs of accelerating from 10 mph - 60 and then braking hard to get the pad material onto the disk) but I just kept going and eventually after another couple of laps the vibration stopped.

The front tyres took the biggest hammering and it was when these started moving around that I would come back into the pits. The rears in comparison faired much better. Here are a couple of pics of the fronts after I got back.

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[Shunt]

Great video, looked like everyone was well behaved. I had a go in a Cayman S before chosing the M, they handle amazingly well but for me felt a bit souless.

 

[flimper]

Great vid

 

[moonigan]

Great video, looked like everyone was well behaved. I had a go in a Cayman S before chosing the M, they handle amazingly well but for me felt a bit souless.

That particular Cayman had some very sticky track rubber on as well.

 

[Booner]

Looks like a bit of bodyroll in the last photo, how did that fair on the track? Looks like an awesome day out. I am hoping to learn the car at Bedford over the summer, because it's nice and easy for a noobie like me!

 

[moonigan]

Looks like a bit of bodyroll in the last photo, how did that fair on the track? Looks like an awesome day out. I am hoping to learn the car at Bedford over the summer, because it's nice and easy for a noobie like me!

The body roll in the shot is because I was a little late on the brakes going into the corner so ended up carrying too much speed. On the whole the car was excellent, much better than the SLK 55 AMG that lit its tyres and ended up sideways coming out of every corner.

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[Booner]

Yeah I saw the AMG SLK struggling to stop it twitching after each corner!