Having now just waved goodbye to my second 35is I thought I would provide a personal view on the two cars, each driven for 3 years:
Engine : Superb 3.0 litre twin turbo. Plenty of torque and power right throughout the rev range with no turbo lag issues. Very smooth and, coupled to the specific exhaust on the 35is, provided just the right amount of sonorous enjoyment with enough woofle, crackle and pop on the overrun without being too boy racerish. It provided just about as much 'oomph' as could be used on public roads - I never wanted for more and it's overtaking ability is second to none.
Transmission : Both seven speed DCTs were excellent and never gave any worries over six years. Not quite as smooth and quick as the Audi DSG/S-Tronic offerings but the difference is very marginal. Lack of an LSD is the most serious issue (see handling later).
Steering : Very accurate but not a tremendous amount of feed back, most feedback was provided through the seat! Sport modes 'firmed' up the steering but provided no more feedback.
Suspension : Adaptive suspension with 19" rims, even on RFTs, are well matched. Excellent compromise between handling and ride and further stiffening up in Sport modes are not really necessary. Major problem is the tendency of the rear wheels to hop sideways on low speed tight turns when the road surface is uneven/broken. Personally I believe this is down to the RFTs stiff sidewalls inability to cope rather than any basic problem with the suspension set up.
Brakes : Powerful and well weighted and never gave any problems or fade issues when used 'in anger'.
Handling : Too tail happy. Even at low speeds any application of power with any steering applied needs to be exercised with caution. When the tail wags it is not progressive and needs to be caught quickly. The first car was very prone to this as well as lighting up the traction warning lamp when giving it 'the beans' in a straight line on dry surfaces. The second car was much improved in this respect. I put this down to improvements in the RFTs even though both cars rode on Bridgestone RE 050A RFTs. I believe an LSD and performance non-RFTs would go a long way to solving this issue. Some motoring reviews flagged up understeer of the Z4 as a problem - I never had any understeer issues.
Build Standard : Both cars had the same issue where the front bumper/valence never lined up completely with the front wings with variable panel gaps. The bits that are visible are well designed and look good but delve into the inner workings of the car and the design/build down to a cost become more obvious. Not a tremendous problem and better than most but nowhere near the build quality of the Audis I have owned. The paint finish on both cars was not good, both had an orange peel finish on close inspection that has been the worst on any new car I have owned (and that is quite a few including those from more humble manufacturers).
Reliability : Pretty good. The only issue on the first car was the micro switches of the folding hard top - fixed under warranty. The only problem on the second car was a cracked rear wheel - again fixed under warranty.
Comfort : The cabin is a nice place to be. Both cars had extended leather and always looked and felt 'the part'. I had the top of the range multimedia/satnav and speaker systems in both cars and thought them extremely good. The iDrive input is not as good as a touch screen input but functionality was never a problem. The iPod interface via the USB port is about the best I have experienced in any car. DAB radio was also excellent. Seats are very comfortable and supportive with a full range of adjustment. Coupled with the fully adjustable steering column an extremely comfortable driving position was possible and six hour drives were never a problem. If the Sport modes could be selected from the gear lever the cabin would, IMHO, be perfect. Roof down motoring at motorway speeds was always comfortable with minimal buffeting and conversation with passengers/listening to radio etc. was never a problem.
Consumption : The first car covered 31.5k miles and provided an overall average of 27.61 mpg and drank oil at the rate of 13.7k miles per litre. The second car covered 29k miles and returned figures of 27.23 mpg and drank oil at the rate of 16.5k miles per litre.
Overall : A cracking GT car but a few dynamic improvements required to make it a great sports car. I thoroughly enjoyed my six years with the 35is. Finally, this is the only car that Mrs Garvin was really sad to see go - she was even up for me keeping it alongside the Mustang!
Engine : Superb 3.0 litre twin turbo. Plenty of torque and power right throughout the rev range with no turbo lag issues. Very smooth and, coupled to the specific exhaust on the 35is, provided just the right amount of sonorous enjoyment with enough woofle, crackle and pop on the overrun without being too boy racerish. It provided just about as much 'oomph' as could be used on public roads - I never wanted for more and it's overtaking ability is second to none.
Transmission : Both seven speed DCTs were excellent and never gave any worries over six years. Not quite as smooth and quick as the Audi DSG/S-Tronic offerings but the difference is very marginal. Lack of an LSD is the most serious issue (see handling later).
Steering : Very accurate but not a tremendous amount of feed back, most feedback was provided through the seat! Sport modes 'firmed' up the steering but provided no more feedback.
Suspension : Adaptive suspension with 19" rims, even on RFTs, are well matched. Excellent compromise between handling and ride and further stiffening up in Sport modes are not really necessary. Major problem is the tendency of the rear wheels to hop sideways on low speed tight turns when the road surface is uneven/broken. Personally I believe this is down to the RFTs stiff sidewalls inability to cope rather than any basic problem with the suspension set up.
Brakes : Powerful and well weighted and never gave any problems or fade issues when used 'in anger'.
Handling : Too tail happy. Even at low speeds any application of power with any steering applied needs to be exercised with caution. When the tail wags it is not progressive and needs to be caught quickly. The first car was very prone to this as well as lighting up the traction warning lamp when giving it 'the beans' in a straight line on dry surfaces. The second car was much improved in this respect. I put this down to improvements in the RFTs even though both cars rode on Bridgestone RE 050A RFTs. I believe an LSD and performance non-RFTs would go a long way to solving this issue. Some motoring reviews flagged up understeer of the Z4 as a problem - I never had any understeer issues.
Build Standard : Both cars had the same issue where the front bumper/valence never lined up completely with the front wings with variable panel gaps. The bits that are visible are well designed and look good but delve into the inner workings of the car and the design/build down to a cost become more obvious. Not a tremendous problem and better than most but nowhere near the build quality of the Audis I have owned. The paint finish on both cars was not good, both had an orange peel finish on close inspection that has been the worst on any new car I have owned (and that is quite a few including those from more humble manufacturers).
Reliability : Pretty good. The only issue on the first car was the micro switches of the folding hard top - fixed under warranty. The only problem on the second car was a cracked rear wheel - again fixed under warranty.
Comfort : The cabin is a nice place to be. Both cars had extended leather and always looked and felt 'the part'. I had the top of the range multimedia/satnav and speaker systems in both cars and thought them extremely good. The iDrive input is not as good as a touch screen input but functionality was never a problem. The iPod interface via the USB port is about the best I have experienced in any car. DAB radio was also excellent. Seats are very comfortable and supportive with a full range of adjustment. Coupled with the fully adjustable steering column an extremely comfortable driving position was possible and six hour drives were never a problem. If the Sport modes could be selected from the gear lever the cabin would, IMHO, be perfect. Roof down motoring at motorway speeds was always comfortable with minimal buffeting and conversation with passengers/listening to radio etc. was never a problem.
Consumption : The first car covered 31.5k miles and provided an overall average of 27.61 mpg and drank oil at the rate of 13.7k miles per litre. The second car covered 29k miles and returned figures of 27.23 mpg and drank oil at the rate of 16.5k miles per litre.
Overall : A cracking GT car but a few dynamic improvements required to make it a great sports car. I thoroughly enjoyed my six years with the 35is. Finally, this is the only car that Mrs Garvin was really sad to see go - she was even up for me keeping it alongside the Mustang!
